Jan. 26, 2016

IRVING, Texas - A pair of freshmen were honored as UTEP's Raven Bennett was named the C-USA Women's Tennis Athlete of the Month after claiming singles victories in matches against Central Oklahoma and Colorado, respectively, while Middle Tennessee's Ayed Zatar Cordero was named the C-USA Men's Tennis Athlete of the Month after earning the sole victory for the Blue Raiders in their dual against No. 25 Vanderbilt.

Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week
Raven Bennett, UTEP, Fr., Mesquite, Texas
Bennett won three of her four matches over the weekend. She assisted UTEP to a victory over Central Oklahoma on Saturday and performed well against Colorado. The freshman started the weekend with wins over Central Oklahoma's Shali Schoepflin (6-4, 6-2) at singles and partnered up with Matilda Tench to top Alli Hodges and Anya Minakova (6-2) in doubles. The Mesquite, Texas, native followed up the performance with another singles triumph over Colorado's Kyra Wojcik (7-6 [7-5], 6-2). On the season, Bennett is undefeated (4-0) in singles play and 3-1 in doubles competition while helping the Miners to a 3-1 start. This is the first C-USA Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week accolade in her young career.

Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week
Ayed Zatar Cordero, Middle Tennessee, Fr., Asuncion, Paraguay
Zatar Cordero enjoyed a successful day against No. 25 Vanderbilt, taking home the Blue Raiders' only victory of the match. The Paraguay native won (6-3, 0-6, 6-3) at the No. 5 spot in the lineup over Vandy's Kris Yee. The C-USA Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week accolade is the first of his career.

2016 C-USA Women's Tennis Athletes of the Week
J19: Alison Ho, Rice
J26: Raven Bennett, UTEP

2016 C-USA Men's Tennis Athletes of the Week
J19: Jamie Malik, Rice
J26: Ayed Zatar Cordero

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