Nomoto collects Sun Belt Player of the Week honor

NEW ORLEANS - Middle Tennessee sophomore Yuiri Nomoto has been named the Sun Belt's Player of the Week for Feb. 9 for the first week of the women's tennis season. She becomes the first Blue Raider to receive the award since Natalie Araya earned the Feb. 10, 2010, honor to open last spring's competition and fifth overall Middle Tennessee selection in the last six years.

Nomoto has begun the 2011 dual match campaign 6-0, including 3-0 in both singles and doubles, all while playing at the No. 1 position. The Tokyo, Japan, native went to three sets in two of her singles matches, including in Sunday's home-opening triumph over UT-Martin. After dropping the second set that went to a tiebreaker and lasted over an hour, she came out and put her opponent away to help the Blue Raiders to their third win in as many tries this spring.

She has paired with Carla Nava as the top Middle Tennessee doubles tandem. The duo clinched the doubles point against UT-Martin outlasting their Skyhawk opponents 11-9 after it was tied 8-8 to force a tiebreaker in a marathon hour-and-a-half long affair.

The second-year Blue Raider has continued her momentum after leading MT with a 14-3 record during the fall tournament campaign.

"Yuiri has played tremendous tennis for us thus far this season, not only in the spring, but the entire fall as well," first-year head coach Melissa Schaub said. "With such a young group of players and only seven on the roster, we count on her every day to come out and give her best effort and she has been doing that on a consistent basis."

Middle Tennessee, which is 3-0 for the second-straight season, resumes its schedule with an 11 a.m. Central Sunday match at No. 55 Marshall in Huntington, W.Va.

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