Tennis' Laalej and Lakshmanan Named CAA Doubles Performer of the Week

RICHMOND, Va. – Drexel Tennis' Hamza Laalej and Balaji Lakshmanan have been named the Colonial Athletic Association Doubles Performer of the Week, the conference announced Wednesday afternoon.

Laalej and Lakshmanan teamed up to beat Villanova's No. 1 doubles pairing of Chris Seitz and Bradley Noyes on Friday, 7-5. The tight win helped the Dragons win two of the three doubles matches to take the point, which proved crucial in Drexel's 5-2 win over the Wildcats. The Morocco native and India native are 3-1 when paired together this season.

Both Laalej and Lakshmanan picked up wins in singles competition as well. At No. 3, Lakshmanan cruised to a 6-3, 6-2 win, while Laalej needed three sets to win at No. 4, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4.

Drexel Tennis has now earned a weekly award from the conference in four of the first five weeks of the season. This is the second time this season Lakshmanan has won the doubles honor, the first coming on Feb. 3 with Xabier Saavedra. Last week, Sinan Orhon took home performer of the week honors. On the women's side, Kendra Bunch and Lea Winkler won the doubles award on Jan. 27.

The Dragons head to Monmouth for a match Wednesday night before returning to the Philadelphia area to host Colgate on Saturday evening at RiverWinds.

For the full list of weekly award winners, visit caasports.com

Dragons Calendar.

Tennis' Laalej and Lakshmanan Named CAA Doubles Performer of the Week

Players Mentioned

Hamza Laalej

Balaji Lakshmanan

Sinan Orhon

Xabier Saavedra

Drexel University Athletics