KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association has announced its tenth MIAA/GAC Men's Tennis Athletes of the Week for the 2024 season, presented by Rocket Alumni Solutions.
 
Washburn’s Daniel Bird was named the Athlete of the Week out of the North Division and Ouachita’s Alex Blancher was named the Athlete of the Week in the South Division.  
 
North Division Athlete of the Week – Daniel Bird, Washburn
Daniel Bird went a combined 4-0 on the week as Washburn downed Newman and No. 21-ranked Ouachita. In the No. 5-ranked Ichabod’s MIAA sweep of Newman, Bird and Yoshinobu Nakatsuji won 6-4 at No. 3 doubles before taking a two-set match over Luco Penteado at No. 4 singles. Against the top-25 ranked Tigers, Bird and Sebastian Pjontek won 6-0 at No. 2 doubles while Bird took a two-set victory over Aaron Osmond at No. 5 singles.

South Division Athlete of the Week – Alex Blanchar, Ouachita
Alex Blanchar, ranked No. 18 individually in Division II singles, earned a convincing two-set win over the No. 10-ranked Tim Hammes of Washburn at No. 1 singles by scores of 6-2 and 6-2. A day later, Blanchar was on his way to another first-position win, up 7-5, 4-3 on No. 37-ranked Ugnius Bickauskis of William Jewell, when the match was decided. In doubles action, Blanchar and teammate Phil Exner, ranked No. 6 nationally, lost to Washburn’s Matthew Earle/Tim Hammes (ranked No. 39) 6-3 in first position. The duo was also up 4-3 on their William Jewell counterparts the next day when the point was decided.
 
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Andrea Zamurri – Northwest Missouri (North Division)
Andrea Zamurri knocked off a pair of ranked foes in singles as he helped Northwest to a pair of MIAA dual wins over Emporia State and Newman. Zamurri, ranked No. 40 individually in Division II singles, scored a 6-3, 2-6, 6-0 win over No. 48-ranked Anton Sarunic of Emporia State. Zamurri added a 6-3, 6-0 win over No. 72-ranked Ali Mounir later in the week. Zamurri and his doubles partner Vini Rodrigues recorded a pair of wins as well to move to 8-1 as a pair this spring. He and Rodrigues topped ESU’s Harrison Brown and Mostafa Elbasnaly (7-5) and Newman’s Kurt Bruckner Suarez and Isfan Makhmudov (6-4). Zamurri has tallied a career singles record of 74-22 as a Bearcat.
 
ALSO NOMINATED
Sebastian Pjontek – Washburn (North Division)
 
ABOUT ROCKET ALUMNI SOLUTIONS
The Digital Wall of Fame that Rocket Alumni Solutions provides allows over 400 colleges and high schools to better recognize and celebrate alumni and community achievements. Rocket's interactive touchscreen technology makes it easy to build a museum-quality touchscreen awards display – rendering awards plaques, overstuffed trophy cases and record boards obsolete. Rocket is proud to work with many types of organizations – from professional associations like the PGA Tour, to all levels of college athletics including Division I universities like Maryland, LSU, NYU and Virginia Tech, to high schools large and small.

To book your Rocket demo today, click here.
Contact Rocket Sales: sales@rocketalumnisolutions.com
 

---

 
2024 MIAA/GAC MEN’S TENNIS ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
NORTH DIVISION
WEEK ONE: Tim Hammes – Washburn
WEEK TWO: Tom van den Dungen – Nebraska Kearney
WEEK THREE: Aaron Osmond – Nebraska Kearney  
WEEK FOUR: Matthew Earle – Washburn   
WEEK FIVE: Aaron Osmond – Nebraska Kearney 
WEEK SIX: Anton Sarunic – Emporia State
WEEK SEVEN: Mostafa Elbasnaly – Emporia State 
WEEK EIGHT: Tim Hammes – Washburn
WEEK NINE: Sebastian Pjontek – Washburn
WEEK TEN: Daniel Bird – Washburn
 
SOUTH DIVISION
WEEK ONE: Phil Exner – Ouachita
WEEK TWO: No Winner
WEEK THREE: Alex Blancher – Ouachita
WEEK FOUR: Cas de Ruiter – Harding  
WEEK FIVE: Fernando Docters – Ouachita 
WEEK SIX: Phil Exner – Ouachita
WEEK SEVEN: No Winner
WEEK EIGHT: Cas de Ruiter – Harding  
WEEK NINE: Ole Valkyser – Southern Arkansas  
WEEK TEN: Alex Blancher – Ouachita