McKenzie Wins Final Player of the Week Award, SLC Tournament Brackets Announced

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Junior Naomi Moi McKenzie from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi won the final Southland Conference Women's Tennis Player of the Week award of the season. Additionally, the league released the 2023 men's and women's tennis brackets, hosted by A&M-Corpus Christi at the Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center.
 
McKenzie, from Brisbane, Australia, helped the Islanders win the SLC regular season title with a perfect 7-0 record. A&M-Corpus Christi registered victories over McNeese, Lamar and Howard Payne on the week.
 
McKenzie started her week with a three-set win at McNeese and followed it up with a straight-set victory at Lamar. She went 4-0 in doubles with freshman Sofia Pinto with wins over the Cowgirls, Cardinals and two over HPU.

"We are incredibly proud of Naomi. She has grown so much and has become so mentally tough! She shows up to play hard every match, every point. She's a wonderful teammate and cares so much about this team. Naomi has been a joy to coach and we are so proud of her development. She has been a key pillar in this team winning the Southland Conference Championship," said head coach Steve Moore.
 
Islanders Tennis won eight SLC Player of the Week awards this year.
 

🎾: Congrats to this week's @jerseymikes #SouthlandTennis Players of the Week!

Male: Aleksa Bucan, @UIC_MTEN
Female: Naomi Moi McKenzie, @IslandersTennis

📰 | https://t.co/zpbRfmdjhI pic.twitter.com/r9swFOq9JQ

— Southland Conference (@SouthlandSports) April 18, 2023

 
The conference tournaments begin Thursday as the men earned the No. 3 seed and play at 6 p.m. against sixth-seeded Nicholls. The top-seeded and regular season champion women's team earned a first round bye and will play Friday at 10 a.m. against the winner of No. 8 Bryant and No. 9 Nicholls.
 
The men will be playing for their 22nd championship and 10th SLC Tournament title, while the women are going for their 11th championship, sixth SLC Tournament title and third in a row. The two programs have won 31 championships overall and six in the last three seasons.
 
The men defeated Nicholls 4-3 in the first meeting this year on April 2 on the road. A&M-Corpus Christi dropped the doubles point before responding with straight set singles wins by seniors Pascal Lorieul, Matthieu Peres, Nathan Schwartz and Ulysse Bertrand.
 
Men's tennis is 20-0 against Nicholls under head coach Steve Moore.
 
The women did not play Bryant, an affiliate member, but swept Nicholls 7-0 on the road – all wins were in straight sets. The Islanders are 14-0 against Nicholls under Moore.
 
The championship matches are slated for Saturday at 4 p.m. for the men, and Sunday at 10 a.m. for the women.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi Tennis
- 14 NCAA Tournaments
- 31 SLC Championships
- 4 Top-40 National Rankings
- 3.0 GPA 39 Straight Semesters
- Islanders have received a No. 3 seed at the NCAA Tournament three times
- Women's tennis has cracked the ITA top-75 national rankings three times
- Men's tennis has cracked the ITA national rankings 10 consecutive years
- Ranked nationally in NCAA DI as high as No. 35 for the men and No. 60 for the women
 
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