No. 9 Xavier's Suarez and No. 8 LSUA's Echaide capture RRAC Tennis Player of the Week honors

WACO, Texas (April 13, 2026) – Nereo Suarez of No. 9 Xavier (La.) has been selected as the RRAC Men's Tennis Player of the Week, and No. 8 LSU Alexandria's Nahia Echaide as Women's Tennis Player of the Week for the dates of April 6-12. This is the ninth set of weekly winners for the 2026 RRAC tennis season.

RRAC Men's Tennis Player of the Week – Nereo Suarez – No. 9/No. 6 (ITA) Xavier (La.)

Senior Nereo Suarez and partner Christian Sanches defeated Matias Penaranda and Marc Gonzalez from Texas A&M-Texarkana 6-2. Suarez won his singles match against Sebastian Ramonos 6-0, 6-1. The Gold Rush defeated the Eagles 6-1.

In his team's 4-3 loss to William Carey (Miss.), Suarez and Sanches won their doubles match 6-3. Suarez also won his singles match 7-6, 7-5.

Suarez, a native of Sante Fe, Argentina, is ranked sixth in the ITA with a 16-3 record. Paired with Sanches, they are ranked fifth with a 7-1 record. This is his fourth player of the week award.

XULA is 13-7 and is ranked No. 9 in the NAIA Men's Tennis Coaches Top 25 Poll, and No. 6 in the ITA ratings.

Additional RRAC men's tennis player of the week nominee: Lucas Yamaguti from TAMUT

RRAC Women's Tennis Player of the Week – Nahia Echaide – No. 8/No. 14 (ITA) LSU Alexandria

Sophomore Nahia Echaide and partner Lucie Ivanova defeated Cheludo Monnayoo and Rylie Gettman from Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 6-2. Echaide bested Monnayoo 6-1, 6-0 in her singles match to guide the Generals to a 7-0 win.

Echaide and Ivanova were ahead 5-4 against Texas A&M-Texarkana's Lucia Siddens and Ana Paola Gonzalez before the match was left unfinished. Echaide won her singles match against Gonzalez 6-2, 6-2 to lead the Generals to a 4-0 win over TAMUT.

LSUA fell to William Carey (Miss.) 4-0. Echaide and Ivanova lost to Isabella Franco and Victoria Vieten 3-6. Gonzalez was defeated by Vieten 6-1, 7-5 in singles.

Echaide, a native of Huarte, Navarra, Spain, is ranked 12th in the ITA in singles with a 13-3 record.

LSUA is 9-4 on the season and is ranked No. 8 in the NAIA Women's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll and No. 14 in the ITA.

Additional RRAC women's tennis players of the week nominees: Elizaveta Mikhailova from LCU, Lucia Siddens from TAMUT, Anais Yakan from Xavier

RRAC Notebook

• TAMUT freshman Lucas Yamaguti won his singles match over XULA's Martin Rivera 1-6, 6-2, 7-6.
• LCU Elizaveta Mikhailova won two of the three doubles matches with Farren Allysia Sandy on the week, with all three against tandems ranked by the ITA, including beating the No. 4-ranked duo in the NAIA by the ITA to secure the doubles point against No. 6/No. 2 Xavier. She also won two of her three singles matches, including taking down the No. 9-ranked singles player in the NAIA by the ITA, to secure the upset team wins over XULA on Friday.
• TAMUT freshman Lucia Siddens lost her doubles match against Texas Wesleyan 6-4, and she won her singles, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. Against XULA, she won her doubles 6-3 and singles 6-4, 6-3.
• XULA's Anais Yakan won her singles match against LCU 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, and against TAMUT 6-2, 6-0.

2026 RRAC Tennis Weekly Selections:

This week in the RRAC: