IRVINE, Calif. – Hawai'i Pacific University sophomore Maxime Gayte has been selected the PacWest Conference Men's Tennis Player of the Week for his outstanding play for the Sharks in Florida last week.
 
Gayte, a 6-2 sophomore from Annecy, France/Baudelaire, helped lead the Sharks to two wins in three matches against nationally ranked teams at Sanlando Park in Alamonte Springs, the site of the NCAA Division II National Championships. HPU's lone loss was a 4-3 decision to No. 9 Saint Leo.  Gayte, ranked 38th in singles in the Oracle/ITA Rankings, won all three of his singles matches, playing from positions 4 or 5. He won his first match against Daniel Arrien of No. 3 Flagler 6-3, 6-2, then beat Noel Kunz of No. 9 Saint Leo 6-2, 6-0, and finished the weekend with a win over Andrej Omeragic of No. 37 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) 6-4, 7-5.
 
Gayte also teamed with Valentin Masse to win one of his three sets at No. 1 doubles, beating Lukas Storck/Felipe Carvalho of No. 3 Flagler 7-5.
 
Gayte is 11-2 on the season in singles and 7-6 in doubles on the season.
 
Joining Gayte with the weekly tennis recognition is Azusa Pacific's Kara Hinton who earned PacWest Conference Women's Tennis Player of the Week.
 
The Sharks open play as the top seed in the PacWest Conference Tournament at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex in Surprise Ariz., on Thursday morning. The Sharks face Holy Names in quarterfinal action at 6 a.m. HST (9 a.m. PDT).