By ERIC BOOSE
UCSB SPORTS
UCSB tennis player Amelia Honer has won her second consecutive Big West Player of the Week award, the conference announced Wednesday. Honer earned the award for her performance at the ITA Kickoff Weekend’s Auburn Regional, Jan. 28 and 29. The sophomore went undefeated in both doubles and singles play against Auburn and Arizona State, and still has not lost in a dual match this season.
Honer earned wins over ranked doubles and singles opponents in the Gauchos’ first match of the weekend against an Auburn team that entered the weekend ranked 15th in the country. In doubles, Honer and Kira Reuter defeated their second top-15 opponent in as many matches, taking down the 10th ranked partnership in the country to help UCSB steal the doubles point from the Tigers. In singles, Honer scored another point for the Gauchos by taking down the 43rd-ranked singles player in the country.
The following day against then-number-19 Arizona State, Honer and Reuter faced off with the Sun Devils’ top doubles team, ranked 9th in the country, but their match did not finish. Honer, herself ranked 49th among singles players, won the first set of her singles match, but the dual ended before her match could.
Honer and the Gauchos play their home opener next, welcoming #24 USC to the Arnhold Tennis Center for a noon dual on Feb. 12. A new set of ITA rankings for singles players and doubles partnerships will be released ahead of that match, on Feb. 8.
Eric Boose writes about sports for UCSB.
sports@newspress.com
