SAN DIEGO – On Tuesday, the Mountain West Conference announced its yearly awards for tennis. San Diego State's Yasmine Kabbaj was named the Mountain West Player of the Year and All-Mountain West in both singles and doubles. Meanwhile, Andjela Skrobonja was also named all-conference in singles and doubles while Myah Petchey and Andreea Velcea earned All-MW honors for doubles.
In her first season as an Aztec, Kabbaj has been a star for San Diego State. Appearing in 17 of the team's 19 matches, Kabbaj has played on the top court every time and still holds a 12-2 record. Ten of her wins came in straight sets and she steamrolled her way through the Mountain West en route to a 5-0 record in conference play. Kabbaj won two of her four matches against ranked opponents, beating California's No. 21 Hannah Viller Moeller and Hawai'i's No. 86 Ana Vilcek in nonconference play. She has been ranked for the majority of the season, going as high as No. 53 in the nation. Kabbaj opened the season with seven consecutive victories and enters the conference tournament riding a five-match winning streak for second-seeded SDSU.
San Diego State's wins leader in overall record (19-7), dual matches (15-2) and conference play (7-1), Skrobonja has formed an elite duo with Kabbaj on the top two singles courts. After falling in the season opener to Pepperdine's No. 21-ranked Savannah Broadus, Skrobonja bounced back by winning her next ten matches and only losing once the rest of the season. She played in all 19 of SDSU's dual matches, primarily on the second court. When Kabbaj missed a pair of matches to open conference play, Skrobonja filled in on the top court and earned wins at Utah State and Boise State. She also earned wins in two of her three matches against ranked opposition, beating California's No. 51 Valentina Ivanov in straight sets and knocking off San Diego's No. 47 Mia Mack. Skrobonja has also been consistently ranked and has gone as high as 71 in the national rankings.
In doubles, Kabbaj played with Petchey. After playing on the second court for the first three matches of the season, the pair spent the rest of the season on the top court. The duo opened Mountain West play by winning their first six matches to finish with a 6-1 record in conference play as part of an 8-6 overall record.
SDSU's only doubles team to reach double digit wins, Skrobonja and Velcea have excelled since moving to the second court following the team's match against Maryland. The pair is unstoppable when playing on the second court and has won all 11 of those decisions including five against Mountain West opposition. In seven of their 11 wins, the Skrobonja and Velcea have only lost two or fewer games. They will look to carry that success over into the Mountain West Championships.
The second-seeded Aztecs begin the Mountain West Championships with the Quarterfinals at 10 a.m. on Thursday, April 25, in Las Vegas. SDSU will play against the winner of seventh-seeded Fresno State and tenth-seeded Utah State.
Women's Tennis All-Mountain West
Player of the Year
Yasmine Kabbaj, San Diego State
Freshman of the Year
Cheuk Ying Shek, San Jose State
SINGLES
1. Pauline Ernstberger, Boise State
2. Radka Buzkova, Colorado State
3. Zara Lennon, Colorado State
4. Carolina Piferi, Fresno State
5. Amahée Charrier, Nevada
6. Hsuan Huang, New Mexico
7. Katherine Jhang, New Mexico
8. Yasmine Kabbaj, San Diego State
9. Andjela Skrobonja, San Diego State
10. Carolina Millan, San Jose State
11. Irena Muradyan, San Jose State
12. Salsa Aher, UNLV
13. Zita Kovacs, UNLV
14. Cindy Hu, UNLV
15. Noesjka Brink, Wyoming
16. Sophie Zehender, Wyoming
DOUBLES
1. Nicole Discenza/Lorelyz Marruffo, Boise State
2. Radka Buzkova/Viktoryia Zhadzinskaya, Colorado State
3. Katherine Jhang/Leonie Hoppe, New Mexico
4. Yasmine Kabbaj/Myah Petchey, San Diego State
5. Andjela Skrobonja/Andreea Velcea, San Diego State
6. Irena Muradyan/Cheuk Ying Shek, San Jose State
7. Zita Kovacs/Hanna Vinahradava, UNLV
8. Violetta Borodina/Sophie Zehender, Wyoming