SMU’s Claire Rietsch hits the ball. (Sarah Acosta)
Conference USA honored its tennis athletes with its annual awards this week. Both the SMU men’s and women’s teams had three players who received awards.
On the men’s side, junior Alex Skrypko was the only Mustang named to the First Team All-Conference while teammate David Kuczer earned Second Team All-Conference honors.
Skrypko began the year with a preseason ranking of No. 36. He remained ranked throughout the season and took victories from three Top 50 players. SMU’s No. 1 closed the season with a record of 11-9 in dual matches.
Doubles duo Skrypko and partner Federico Murgier made the All-Conference Doubles Team after posting an 11-6 record, which included a win over a nationally ranked doubles team.
Kuczer closed the season 11-9 in dual matches. The junior’s longest win streak of the season was six singles matches, as well as a win over a nationally ranked player.
For the women, sophomore Natalia Bubien and freshman Claire Reitsch were each named to the All-Conference USA First Team. Bubien played No. 1 singles for the Mustangs the majority of the season, ending with an 11-8 record in dual meets. This is her third individual C-USA award of the season, as she was named to the C-USA All-Academic team and the C-USA Commissioner’s honor roll. Her doubles partner, Reitsch, held the team’s strongest singles record in dual matches, 20-2, and went undefeated for nine consecutive matches at the beginning of the season.
Bubien and Reitsch also earned All-Conference USA Doubles Team honors. The duo played at No. 1 and held the Mustangs’ best doubles record of 18-4.
SMU senior Jennifer Chay also received a nod from the conference as she was named to the All-Conference USA Third Team. During her final season as a Mustang, Chay recorded a 15-6 dual match record and closed the season with a nine-match win streak.
After losing to opponents during the C-USA Championships, neither SMU squad received a bid to compete at the NCAA Championships, which will begin on May 11.
