Agarycheva Repeats as NWC Women's Tennis Student-Athlete of the Week

SALEM, ORE. -- Natalia Agarycheva (Sr., Vancouver, WA/Prairie HS/U. of Northern Colorado) from Willamette University has been chosen Northwest Conference Women's Tennis Student-Athlete of the Week for the second week in a row. The most recent honor was earned by her performances in Willamette's victories over Lewis & Clark College on Feb. 25 and Pacific Lutheran University on Feb. 26.

During the week, Agarycheva went 2-0 in singles and 2-0 in doubles. She improved to 5-1 in singles (5-0 in the NWC) while upping her record to 5-1 in doubles (5-0 in the NWC). She is currently ranked #9 in the West Region of NCAA Division III.

Against Lewis & Clark, she rolled to a 6-1, 6-1 win over Whitney DeBree at #1 singles and teamed with Shannon Palmer (Jr., Salem, OR/Sprague HS) to defeat DeBree and Isabelle Borris, 8-2, at #1 doubles. In the Bearcats' match with Pacific Lutheran, she downed Leah Newell at the #1 singles position, 6-3, 6-0, and combined with Palmer for an 8-2 victory over Newell and Tina Aarsvold at #1 doubles.

Willamette defeated Lewis & Clark by a final score of 7-2 on Friday. The Bearcats outscored PLU on Saturday by an 8-1 margin. WU improved its overall record to 3-3, 3-2 in the NWC.

Last year, Agarycheva was named the NWC Women's Tennis Player of the Year. She achieved a 20-4 overall record in singles and was 14-1 against NWC opponents in the regular season.

In singles, she finished the 2010 season ranked #5 in the West Region and #37 in NCAA Division III. She became the first WU women's tennis player to participate in the NCAA Division III National Championships. Agarycheva and Palmer were ranked #7 in the West Region in doubles.

Willamette's next match is on Friday, March 4, when the Bearcats will host George Fox University. The action has been moved indoors to the Courthouse Tennis Club and the start of doubles has been changed from the afternoon to 7 p.m. (PST).