2016-17: Posted 17 singles wins while playing primarily at the No. 4 spot in the lineup ... Rallied from a set down to defeat Oklahoma State's 50th-ranked Vladica Babic 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 (3/4) ... Posted a 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 win over Khrystyna Vozniak at No. 4 in the team's NCAA tournament win over Mississippi State ... Competed primarily at No. 2 doubles, notching 16 victories ... ITA Scholar-Athlete ... Academic All-Big Ten.
Cukierman/Smith Named to ITA National Indoors All-Tournament Tennis Team
After USC took down two top-10 opponents at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships last week, two Trojans have picked up All-Tournament honors for their efforts in Seattle. Daniel Cukierman (Tel Aviv, ISRAEL) and Tanner Smith combined forces at No. 3 doubles and whipped up three decisive wins in that slot to stand tall for the Trojans. For their efforts, Cukierman and Smith scored a place on the All-Tournament Team at that No. 3 position.
So far this season, Cukierman and Smith boast a perfect 6-0 record together in doubles action. The next competition for Cukierman/Smith and the Trojans is a crosstown clash against rival UCLA, with USC heading to Westwood February 27 for a 3 p.m. matchup.
Dor Saar, University of Maine
Maine Completes 16-Point Comeback to Capture AE Regular Season Title
Black Bears earn No. 1 seed in America East Tournament
Bangor, Maine -- Behind Tanesha Sutton's career-high 27 point effort, the University of Maine women's basketball team completed a 16-point comeback to defeat UAlbany, 74-69 in overtime, to capture the America East regular season championship in front of 3,140 fans at the Cross Insurance Center.
The victory earned Maine (20-9, 13-3) the No. 1 seed in the 2018 America East Championship. The Black Bears will play the winner of UMass Lowell and UMBC's, who will compete in the play-in game on Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 6 p.m. Maine's quarterfinal match-up will take place at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland, Maine on Saturday, March 3 at 12 p.m. For tickets, please visit CrossArenaPortland.com. The title, Maine's first outright championship since 2004-05, is the Black Bears' conference-best 15th title and their third in the last four years.
Maine, which trailed by 16 with 4:11 remaining in the third quarter, outscored UAlbany 31-15 down the stretch to send the game into overtime. In the extra frame, the Black Bears held UAlbany without a field goal as they were able to capture the 74-69 victory. Maine took its first lead of the day when Parise Rossignol knocked down a corner trey with 1:32 left in regulation.
Sutton, who finished the game 11-for-13 from the floor and 5-for-5 from the free throw stripe, added seven rebounds and five assists to her career-best scoring output. Blanca Millan stretched her double-figure scoring streak to 28 straight after tallying 11 points and six boards while Dor Saar (Ma'anit, ISRAEL) chipped in 11 with a career-best nine assists in a team-high 42 minutes.
The Black Bears finished the game 27-of-62 (43.5) from the floor, outscoring UAlbany 34-18 in the paint while hitting 13-of-15 free throw attempts.
Maine's defense forced 20 Great Dane turnovers and held UAlbany to just 2-of-14 from the floor over the final 15 minutes. The Great Danes did not hit a field goal over the final 11:19 of action.
The Great Danes, who hit each of their first five three-point attempts, raced out to an early 12-3 lead. Maine responded with a 7-0 run, capped on a triple from Saar, to trim the lead to two.
UAlbany ran its lead back to nine late in the first. Maine continued to chip away, cutting the lead down to five in the second before two Sutton free throws and a layup from Fanny Wadling brought the Black Bears back to within one.
The Great Danes ended the half on a 7-0 run and began the third period with a 14-6 run as they were able to take their largest lead of the contest (16) with 4:11 left in the third.
Maine was able to chip the lead down to nine late in the third but a UAlbany responded, running the lead back to 14 after a short 7-2 run carried over to the fourth quarter.
The Black Bears began their comeback with back-to-back buckets from Millan and a layup from Sutton to complete a 6-0 run. Millan would foul out of the game with 5:44 remaining. Two free throws from UAlbany ran its lead back to 10.
Despite losing Millan, the Black Bears remained composed and were able to rally off 11 unanswered points, ultimately taking their first lead of the afternoon. Six points from Sutton powered the run, cutting the UAlbany lead down to a pair, before Rossignol's triple put the Black Bears on top by one, 65-64, with 1:32 on the clock.
A pair of free throws from UAlbany's Jessica Fequiere regained a one point lead for the Danes.
Wadling's defensive board off a jumper from Fequiere gave Maine life late. Saar drove the lane, drawing a foul with 39-seconds remaining. She would knock down the first of her two, tying the game.
Strong defense from Maine led to a turnover by Tiana-Jo Carter. Following two, 30-second timeouts, Maine was able to get the ball in Brosseau's hands for a last second shot from the top of the key. The shot would clang around the rim and out, sending the regular season championship contest into overtime.
A UAlbany free throw put the Danes back up by one but Saar's pair of free throws on Maine's next possession gave Maine a 68-67 advantage.
Etamar Bhastekar, University of Texas El Paso
Etamar Bhastekar Earns Top-Five Pole Vault Mark in School History
Albuquerque, N.M. – UTEP freshman Etamar Bhastekar (Mitzpe Ramon, ISRAEL) etched his name into school history by climbing over the bar at 5.20m (17-0.75) in the pole vault Friday night at the Don Kirby Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M.
Bhastekar cleared the opening height at 4.90m (16-00.75) with ease before climbing over 5.05m (16-6.75) on his second attempt. Clearing over 5.20m earns him fifth in school history just behind Matt Kickl (5.22m, 1996). Bhastekar is the first student-athlete to finish vault over the bar above 5.08m (16-8) since Jukka Nurmela in 2001. His mark also ranks him tied for first in Conference USA with the league championships just a week away.
Wake Forest NCAA Indoor Tennis Champs for 2018
SEATTLE, Wash. – The top-ranked Wake Forest men’s tennis team won its first-ever national championship Monday (Feb. 19) afternoon, defeating No. 7 UCLA, 4-2, to win the 2018 ITA National Team Indoor Championship.
Senior Skander Mansouri, ranked 22nd nationally, clinched the match for the Demon Deacons (9-0) with a 6-4, 7-6(7) victory over No. 107 Keegan Smith of UCLA (12-1).
Wake Forest was forced to come back twice against the Bruins, as the Deacs fell into an early 1-0 hole as well as a 2-1 deficit. Despite Petros Chrysochos and Bar Botzer (Tel Aviv, ISRAEL and pictured 2nd from right above) winning a 6-4 decision at No. 3 doubles, the Bruins took the top two courts to clinch the doubles point.
No. 112 ranked Botzer put the Deacs ahead for good with 6-4, 6-4 upset victory over No. 58 Logan Staggs at No. 4 singles, setting up Mansouri to close out the match.
Talya Zandberg, University of Arizona
Talya Zandberg Wins Pac-12 Player of the Week
Freshman Talya Zandberg
was named Pac-12 Player of the Week on Tuesday afternoon, February 6th.
By: Arizona Athletics
02/06/2018
TUSCON, Ariz – Arizona women's tennis freshman Talya Zandberg
was named Pac-12 Player of the Week on Tuesday, February 6th, as announced by
the conference. She is Arizona's 10th all-time conference Player of the Week.
Zandberg was 5-0 to start the season with the Wildcats with her five wins
coming from matches against Northern Arizona, Boise State, Utah State, San
Diego and Grand Canyon University. From January 28 – February 3, she knocked
off Utah State's Maggie O'Meara (6-3, 6-2), San Diego's Gemma Garcia (6-1,
1-6, 6-1) and Grand Canyon's Valentina Mokrova (6-1, 6-3).
The freshman also won a pair of doubles matches alongside teammate Mary Lewis as
they defeated Grand Canyon (6-2) and Northern Arizona (7-5).
Florida Tech Men's 200 Freestyle Relay
CLEARWATER, Fla. – The Florida Tech swim teams had a successful second day of the Sunshine State Conference Swim Championships with two relays and two individuals reaching podium at the Long Center Sports Complex.
The Panther women moved up to fifth in the standings at 139 points, while the men remained in third place at 290 points.
In the women's 200 yard freestyle relay, the A-relay team of Valentina Carvajal, Neta Saar (Haifa, ISRAEL), Carter Juskevich and Savannah Brennan finished fifth overall with a time of 1:36.97.
Florida Tech repeated as SSC champions in the men's 200 freestyle relay with the team of Victor Rocha Furtado, Edward Ilako, Adi Davidov (Herzliya, ISRAEL, pictured above 2nd from right) and Filip Dujmic winning the race in a NCAA provisional time of 1:20.24.
Brennan was impressive in the women's 400 yard IM final, taking fourth overall in a school record and B-cut time of 4:28.49. Yagoh Kubagawa grabbed fifth in the men's 400 IM in a B-cut time of 3:57.63.
The Panthers then took three of the top six spots in the men's 100 yard butterfly final. Dujmic finished second overall with a new school record and B-cut time of 47.38, while Rocha Furtado took third in a B-cut time of 48.22. Davidov ended sixth in the final at a B-cut time of 48.79.
ABOUT THE ISRAELBRIDGE
Who We Are:
Ross Greenstein, Former Scholarship for Athletes President and Founder of The Israel Bridge
Dan Aronovic, Head of Operations, The Israel Bridge
Our Vision:
The Israel Bridge will work to be the largest resource for connecting and developing relationships between Israelis and Americans.
Current activities:
Finding athletic scholarships for deserving Israeli athletes in the US. We have helped over 130 athletes to attend schools like Princeton University, The University of Michigan, The University of Minnesota (Twin Cities), Tulane, Ohio State, UCLA, USC, Northwestern, UNLV, Arizona, Rutgers, San Diego State, University of San Francisco, University of Washington and many others.
