Tulane's MAIKO COOK and UAB's ANDRE VAN DER MERWE are the Conference USA Tennis Players of the Week for the period ending April 8.

Women -
Maiko Cook, Tulane
Senior, Mt. Pleasant, Calif.
Tulane's MAIKO COOK is the Conference USA Women's Tennis Player of the Week for the period ending April 7. Cook posted a pair of key victories at No. 5 singles last week. She started the week with a 1-6, 7-5, 6-4 win over Tulsa's Zoe Buhagiar and followed that with a 3-6, 7-6, 6-1 win that clinched Tulane's 4-3 upset win over No. 39 Oklahoma State. With the team score tied at 3-3, Cook's win over Ashleigh Dolman at the No. 5 spot sealed Tulane's victory. Both wins came after she fought back from a set down.


Men -
Andre van der Merwe, UAB
Senior, Cape Town, South Africa.
UAB's ANDRE VAN DER MERWE is the Conference USA Men's Tennis Player of the Week for the period ending April 7. van der Merwe went 2-0 in singles and doubles against ranked teams. In the Blazers' mid-week match against the 17th-ranked Auburn Tigers, van der Merwe pulled off the upset over 36th-ranked Tiago Ruffoni going right down to the wire and winning in an exciting third-set tie-breaker, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(7-0). Against 39th-ranked South Alabama, the Blazer senior easily knocked off Vincent Baudet, 6-4, 6-2 to claim his 11th victory of the season.

A native of Cape Town, South Africa, van der Merwe teamed up with junior GEORGE DUBRAVA to capture two victories, improving their record to 14-3 in dual-match play. Against Auburn, the Blazer tandem upended Rameez Junaid and Andre Boz, 8-6. The duo also tallied an 8-6 win against Jaguar's Heinrich Heyl and Clinton Jacobs.