BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Sophomore Alex Das Izquierdo and senior Alexandra Sitnikova were named the Ohio Valley Conference Men’s and Women’s Co-Tennis Players of the Week as announced by the league office today. Both tennis teams return home Friday for a pivotal OVC match against Jacksonville State.

Das Izquierdo, the 2008 OVC Freshman of the Year, went 2-0 in singles matches and 1-0 in doubles matches last week. The native of Valencia, Spain has won his last four singles matches, three of which have come against OVC opponents. Das Izquierdo, the team’s top player, leads EKU with a 13-7 singles record in 2009.

Sitnikova has won five consecutive singles matches at the No. 1 position. The native of Almaty, Kazakhstan won all three of her OVC matches last week in straight sets. In doubles play, Sitnikova and fellow senior Svetlana Pimenova helped EKU claim the doubles point against Murray State on March 28 thanks to rallying from a 7-4 deficit to win the match in a tie-breaker, 9-8.

Tennessee Tech’s Dean O’Brien and Kelly Holtzhausen were the other OVC Co-Tennis Players of the Week.

The EKU men (12-8, 3-0 OVC) and women (15-5, 4-0 OVC) take on Jacksonville State Friday in a battle for first place in the league. The women’s match begins at 10 a.m., with the men’s match to follow.