Butler’s Dragos and St. John’s Livianu Collect #BEtennis Weekly Awards
NEW YORK – This week’s BIG EAST Tennis Athletes of the Week each went undefeated at the No. 1 spot to earn their first recognition of the season. Butler’s Mason Dragos took care of business to give the Bulldogs a 3-0 weekend with wins over Youngstown State, Cleveland State and Marian. St. John’s Jessica Livianu won all of her matches to help the Red Storm take down Marist and Wagner.
BIG EAST Male Athlete of the Week
Mason Dragos, Butler, Sr. (Lexington, Ohio)
Dragos, along with teammate Michael Dickson, defeated Youngstown State’s Joao Garretto and Danylo Veremeichuk at the top spot for a 6-3 doubles victory. Dragos then bested Veremeichuk at No. 1 singles 6-4, 6-4 to help Butler defeat YSU 6-1 overall. Against Cleveland State, he teamed up with Dickson again to get the win at No. 1 doubles by taking down Nico Mostardi and Benjamin Slade 6-4. Dragos rallied back after dropping the first set at No. 1 singles to No. 113 Mostardi, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3. Butler beat the Vikings 5-2. In a team sweep of Marian, Dragos and Ryan Roegner partnered to win 6-1 on the No. 1 doubles court against Diogo Jesus and Hunter Sylvester. Dragos earned his third singles win of the weekend at No. 1 singles with a triumph over Jesus 6-1, 6-2.
BIG EAST Female Athlete of the Week
Jessica Livianu, St. John’s, Jr. (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Livianu and teammate Najah Dawson partnered to defeat Marist’s Julia Gabay and Sam Galu at No. 1 doubles 6-3. She went on to prevail over Gabay in No. 1 singles 6-1, 6-1 as the Red Storm won 4-0. St. John’s also defeated Wagner 4-0, with Livianu continuing her success at the No. 1 doubles and singles spots. She and Dawson teamed up again to take down Vedika Anand and Rina Baynes in straight sets, 6-0. Livianu ousted Fidan Khalilzade on the No. 1 singles court 6-0, 6-1. Against Dartmouth, Livianu captured the only two wins for the Red Storm. She kept her perfect weekend in tact with a 6-1 win at No. 1 doubles with teammate Dawson. She went on to knock off Raquel Lyn at the top spot in singles, 6-1, 6-1, to stay perfect in both singles and doubles for the season so far.