Breno Plentz Becomes Third Runnin' Bulldog to Earn Men's Tennis Player of the Week Honors
April 10, 2019 | Men's Tennis
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Gardner-Webb junior Breno Plentz became the third Runnin' Bulldog to earn Big South Conference men's tennis Player of the Week honors on Wednesday morning.
Plentz (Porto Alegre, Brazil / Colegio Joao Paulo) joins teammates Maximilian Scholl and Millen Hurrion as weekly award winners.
"First of all, Breno has been awesome for us this season," said head coach Mike Griffith. "It's very difficult to play in the top flights, and he has done a great job. He works harder than anybody on the court and has a lot of passion. I am very happy for him."
Last week, Plentz went a combined 3-1 between singles and doubles play to lead Gardner-Webb to a 1-1 record, including a crucial Big South Conference road victory at USC Upstate.
Against the Spartans, Plentz and Sebastian Harris shutout Samuel Schiano and Frederick Sydow at No. 3 doubles, 6-0. The Porto Alegre, Brazil native carried that momentum into his singles match where he faced off against Fernando Bernardes in the No. 3 position and won in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3. His victory helped Gardner-Webb defeat USC Upstate, 5-2, and improve to 4-1 in Big South Conference play.
In a weekend non-conference match at Elon, Plentz and Harris fell in doubles play, but he rebounded in a big way and won in singles, despite playing out of his typical position. Playing at No. 2, Plentz beat Elon's Mario Paccini, 7-5, 7-6. The win over Paccini was his ninth of the year singles victory of the year.
Entering the final two regular season matches, Plentz is 9-8 in singles action. The 'Dogs will travel to Hampton on Thursday, April 11 for a 2 p.m. first serve before battling Longwood on Saturday, April 13 at 3 p.m. to finish the regular season.
The Big South Conference tournament will begin on Wednesday, April 17 and conclude with the championship match on Saturday, April 20. The Radford Highlanders will host the tournament, which will feature all 11 teams.
