Fernandez, Church named Zaxby's Athletes of the Week

Fernandez, Church named Zaxby's Athletes of the Week

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Tusculum University tennis players Yago Fernandez and Rory Church have been named the Zaxby's Athletes of the Week.

Fernandez opened the fall season for the Pioneers with two singles victories and three doubles wins at the King University Hidden Dual Invitational. In singles, Fernandez picked up a 1-6, 6-4, (10-8) win over Lukas Laipold of West Virginia Wesleyan, who finished last season ranked 11th in the Atlantic Region. Fernandez also earned a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Jacob Summerville of Montreat.

In doubles, the Aviles, Spain native teamed with freshman Tom Dillon for three wins. The duo beat Satoshi Yamada and Rodriguo Huarachi of Bluefield College 6-4, defeated Franco Minoldo Garcia and James Kirkham of Montreat 6-0, and downed Alexander Lyudinovskiy and Carlos Dodero of West Virginia Wesleyan by a 6-2 score.

Fernandez, who was 18-7 in singles and 12-10 in doubles for the Pioneers last season, is a two-time All-South Atlantic Conference performer in both singles and doubles, including last season when he was a second-team All-SAC selection in singles.

Church, a native of Kennesaw, Georgia, opened her collegiate career with three victories in singles and two in doubles for the Pioneers at the King Hidden Dual Invitational. In singles, Church defeated Murphy Harr of King 6-0, 6-2, beat Kali Zakariasen of Montreat 6-0, 6-0 and downed Megan Harwood of UVa-Wise by a 6-2, 6-2 score. In doubles, Church teamed with Javiera Ortiz to beat Anna Mincey and Morgan Buchanan of King 6-3, and for a 6-2 victory over Montreat's team of Aidan Betz and Zakariasen.

The Tusculum University Athlete of the Week Award is sponsored by Zaxby's, located at 3280 Andrew Johnson Highway in Greeneville.  The Zaxby's Athlete of the Week Award honors one male and one female athlete each week from an in-season sport.

2019-2020 Zaxby's Athletes of the Week

Week

Male Athlete of the Week

Female Athlete of the Week

Sep. 5-8, 2019

Will Cronin (Cross Country)           

Nicole McMillen (Cross Country)

Sep. 9-15, 2019

Yago Fernandez (Men's Tennis)

Rory Church (Women's Tennis)