FHSU Athletics
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Fort Hays State Women's Tennis claimed the MIAA Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week honor for the second-straight week on Wednesday. Irina Alfonso is this week's honoree after teammate Suzana Faucz received the honor last week. Alfonso had a huge week for the Tigers, knocking off a nationally ranked player in MIAA action and then provided the clinching point in FHSU's 4-3 win over Missouri Western for the team's first MIAA win since 2018.
Alfonso went 6-0 for the week in singles and doubles combined. In the win over Missouri Western, she outlasted Johanna Priedite in a match that took nearly three hours to complete. With the score knotted at 3-3 between the teams, Alfonso forced a third set and won the match by scores of 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, ending a 47-match losing string for the Tigers in conference play.
Just a day before, despite FHSU losing to Northwest Missouri 5-2, Alfonso won both her singles and doubles matches against the Bearcats, upsetting No. 57 nationally ranked Alva Norberg in straight sets 6-3, 6-2. In the Tigers 5-1 non-conference win over William Jewell, Alfonso blanked her opponent 6-0, 6-0 to cap off a perfect week, helping the Fort Hays move to 11-3 overall and 1-1 in the MIAA.
Alfonso partnered with Faucz at No. 2 doubles to win all three matches for the week. The duo won a tiebreaker against the Bearcats 7-6 (8-6), won 6-4 against the Griffons, and then 6-1 against William Jewell. Alfonso is now 15-4 in singles play and 17-2 in doubles play this season.