KINGSVILLE, Texas – The Texas A&M-Kingsville women's tennis and track and field programs added yet another solid week to its respective 2019 campaign, and as a result junior
Valerie Ruiz (San Antonio, Texas) and sophomore
Ayman Zahafi (Casablanca, Morocco) were both named IBC Bank Players of the Week.
It is the second time Ruiz has garnered the award in 2018-19, while Zahafi grabbed his first distinction.
For the women's tennis program, Ruiz went 3-0 in Lone Star Conference matches against Cameron and No. 35 MSU Texas. She turned in a straight-set win against the Aggies' Melany Opolz at 6-4, 6-3, before she went to three sets against the Mustangs' Juliette Mary for the win.
In doubles play, she paired up with freshman
Loren Tristan (Corpus Christi, Texas) and came away with a 6-1 win over CU's Opolz and Pilar Jaurena to complete her perfect week.
On the season, Ruiz is 12-3 in singles play following a hard-fought loss to Ashley Penshorn from St. Mary's (TX) on Wednesday at the Javelina Tennis courts, and is 10-5 as a tandem with Tristan.
For the defending national champion men's track and field program, Zahafi topped the list in the 800m at the Hurricane Alumni Invitational in Coral Gables, Fla., as he clocked in at 1:49.78 en route to his first place finish.
The Casablanca, Morocco, native led a field of 24 invitees at the event, several from the Division I and professional ranks, and finished ahead of the second-place finisher by just over a second to claim the gold.
On the year, Zahafi is currently second in NCAA Division II following his run over the past weekend with a provisional qualifying time for the Javelinas.
The Blue and Gold tennis program will wrap up the regular season at home against UTRGV on Saturday, April 20, while the track and field program will head to Houston to compete in the J. Fred Duckett Twilight hosted by Rice.
Â
######
Â
