May 20, 2014
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State senior Laura Antonaña Iriarte is set to compete at the women's tennis singles NCAA Championship beginning tomorrow, May 21. The San Sebastian, Spain native will face 52nd-ranked Viktoriya Lushkova of Oklahoma State at 12:30 pm ET at Dan Magill Tennis Complex on the University of Georgia campus in Athens, Ga.
A win on Wednesday will match up the senior with either No. 31 Katie Le of Santa Clara or 14th-ranked Olivia Janowicz of Florida in the tournament's second round on May 22.
Antonaña Iriarte, who currently sits at No. 42 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings, was tabbed as the Mountain West Player of the Year for the 2013-14 season. The award was the first for the Aztecs since 2003 when Silvia Tornier earned the honor in consecutive years. In addition, Antonaña Iriarte was named to the all-conference singles team. For her efforts, the senior held a top-50 spot in the ITA standings for 12-consecutive weeks.
The Aztec senior holds a 25-7 overall singles record, 17-5 in dual matches, all in the first position. Additionally, she went 4-2 against nationally-ranked players this year. The four victories were highlighted by her upsets of No. 26 Anett Schutting of California and No. 19 Lorraine Guillermo of Pepperdine.
Antonaña Iriarte broke a school record this season by claiming five conference player of the week awards. The most by any player in previous years was two. She is also in the record books for the third-most victories in a season with 25, tied with Silvia Tornier (2002) and Lisa Alipaz (1995). A win on Wednesday would put her in second place with Katja Karrento (2001).
The senior was also recognized for her work in the classroom as she was named a seven-time SDSU scholar and a member of the Mountain West all-academic team.
The selection ends a 17-year singles selection drought for San Diego State as Antonaña Iriarte is the first Aztec selected to the individual championship since Maggie Cole in 1997.