Tusculum College sophomore Franziska Funke has been named the AstroTurf South Atlantic Conference Player of the Week in Women's tennis for the week ending April 17, the conference office announced Monday.

Funke went 3-0 in singles and 1-1 in doubles during the week for the Pioneers, who secured the number-two seed in this week's SAC Tournament with conference wins over Carson-Newman and Queens.

In singles, Funke picked up a three-set win in the Pioneers' 6-3 victory at Carson-Newman on Tuesday, then earned a straight-set win as Tusculum beat Queens 6-3 on Friday. On Sunday, the Bochum, Germany native defeated Sophie Feller of Georgia Gwinnett, the 50th-ranked player in NAIA, in a third-set tiebreaker to improve her season record to 21-1 at number-two singles for the Pioneers. In doubles action, Funke teamed up with Amanda Sumner for a 9-7 victory in the match against Carson-Newman. The duo is 13-7 this season and went 8-3 in conference matches for the Pioneers.

The Player of the Week award is the first of the season for Funke and the second of her career. Tusculum has had three Player of the Week winners this season, with Erin Mills capturing the award for March 7-13 and Kealee Heffner for the week of March 28-April 3.

The Pioneers (19-4, 10-1 SAC), who are ranked 44th in the latest ITA Division II poll, are the number-two seed in the SAC Tournament and will play in the SAC Tournament semifinals on Friday at 9 a.m. at Brevard, North Carolina. Tusculum will face the winner of Thursday's quarterfinal match between #3 Queens University of Charlotte and #6 Coker, with the championship match scheduled for Saturday morning.