WCC names Wally Thayne UCU Singles Player of the Week

SAN MATEO, Calif. – Wally Thayne’s two wins over ranked opponents last week earned him the West Coast Conference’s University Credit Union Singles Player of the Week award. The BYU men’s tennis sophomore went 2-0 at the No. 2 singles position in matches against No. 20 Stanford and No. 27 San Diego.

Against Stanford, Thayne defeated No. 5 Nishesh Basavarredy in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3. Basavarredy was 22-4, including 11-3 against ranked opponents, before the match. The victory gave Thayne the biggest ranked win in BYU men’s tennis history since at least 1997 when digital records began.

Thayne also defeated San Diego’s Iiro Vasa in straight sets, 7-5, 7-5. Vasa entered Saturday’s contest ranked No. 69 nationally. Thayne was one of four Cougars to win a match against the Toreros, giving BYU a 4-2 victory over USD. The win snapped San Diego’s 16-match win streak in WCC matches.

Thayne is now ranked No. 123 in singles. He becomes the second Cougar to earn a Singles Player of the Week award this season, joining Dominik Jakovljevic, who won on Feb. 21. Thayne also previously took home Doubles Team of the Week honors on Feb. 7 with teammate Zach Fuchs. BYU now has a total of five WCC weekly awards in 2023.