UCLA Team Page

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - UCLA sophomore men's tennis player Dennis Novikov was named the Pac-12 Men's Tennis Player of the Week for the week of March 25-31, the Conference Office announced Tuesday.

Novikov, from San Jose, Calif., defeated a pair of ranked singles players over the weekend, helping the fourth-ranked Bruins kickoff the Pac-12 season 2-0. Novikov, who is ranked No. 32 nationally, began the weekend with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Cal's Chris Konigsfelt at court No. 2 in UCLA's 5-2 victory over the Bears in Berkeley on Friday. He also picked up a doubles win in that match, as he and partner Marcos Giron upset 26th-ranked Campbell Johnson and Konigsfeldt, 8-6 at No. 1 doubles. Giron and Novikov are ranked No. 60 nationally in doubles. Novikov also picked up another big singles victory in UCLA's 5-2 win over Stanford on Sunday, downing 88th-ranked Nolan Paige, 6-4, 6-4 at court No. 2. With the two singles wins, Novikov is now 15-9 on the season and 8-4 against ranked singles opponents. UCLA improved its record to 16-1 overall and 2-0 in the Pac-12.

It is the fourth time this season that UCLA has earned the Pac-12 Player of the Week Award, as Novikov has won it three times and Marcos Giron has won it once.

Also Nominated:
Dean Maasland, ORE; John Morrissey, STAN; Ray Sarmiento, USC; Kyle McMorrow, WASH.

2013 Pac-12 Men's Tennis Player of the Week
Jan. 22 - Slim Hamza, Utah
Jan. 29 - Emilio Gomez, USC
Feb. 5 - Max de Vroome, USC
Feb. 12 - Dennis Novikov, UCLA
Feb. 19 - Yannick Hanfmann, USC
Feb. 26 - Marcos Giron, UCLA
March 5 - Dennis Novikov, UCLA
March 12 - Gregory Bayane, CAL
March 19 - Ben McLachlan, CAL
March 25 - Roberto Quiroz, USC
April 2 - Dennis Novikov, UCLA