DeLand, Fla. ? A pair of Stetson juniors enjoyed dominating performances in singles and doubles during identical 7-0 sweeps of Atlantic Sun rival FGCU that led to weekly awards from the conference office on Wednesday. Valentina Galbarini (Montevideo, Uruguay) was named Atlantic Sun Women's Tennis Player of the Week while Mark Mestan (Cologne, Germany) earned A-Sun Men's Tennis Player of the Week honors.
Galbarini earned her first career Player of the Week award and the first for a Hatter since Catherine Canady (1/23/07) by teaming with sophomore Unnati Purushotham (Hyderabad, India) to defeat Priscillia Villemond and Joanne Power 8-5 at #1 doubles, then taking on Villemond again at #1 singles and sweeping her 6-4, 7-5 to key Stetson's first dual match victory of the season. Galbarini is majoring in International Business.
Mestan, in his first season with the Hatters after a strong first two seasons for Division II Hawai'i Pacific University, began the match with FGCU by partnering with freshman Masksim Levanovich (Minsk, Belarus) for an 8-3 win at #3 doubles over Rafael Costa and Edson Lima. He then slid into his usual spot at #2 singles and dominated Thibaud Aime by a 6-0, 6-1 score. All six Hatters won in straight sets over their Eagle foes. Although only a junior athletically, Mestan is already working on his M.B.A. at Stetson University.
The Stetson women (1-3) are back in action Thursday at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center at 4 p.m. against Volusia County rival Bethune-Cookman while the 63rd-ranked Hatter men (3-2) head to Mobile, Ala. to visit #71 South Alabama at 2 p.m. Friday afternoon. They will stay in the city to face #75 UAB at 10 a.m. Saturday.
