ORLANDO - Two months through her collegiate career, Aya El Aouni officially has more Big 12 Player of the Week honors than losses.
Announced Tuesday afternoon by the conference office, El Aouni garnered the premier award following a memorable week on the road leading the Knights. A pair of triumphs at Kansas State and No. 25 Oklahoma State, in large part to the freshman’s efforts on court one, will have the squad flying high ahead of a four-match homestand.
The first-year Knight becomes the first in program history to claim the Big 12 weekly honor and the third Moroccan to win the award, joining Mehdi Benchakroun and Yassine Dlimi on the men’s team.
In Manhattan against the Wildcats, El Aouni handled business on court two alongside Sophia Biolay, leveling the doubles point before the Knights would eventually secure the early advantage courtesy of Olivia Lincer and Hannah Rylatt.
Having dropped just two sets in singles entering her court-one bout with Charlotte Keitel, the Moroccan native was dominant in a 6-4, 6-3 result, tallying the penultimate point for the Knights before Jade Psonka clinched the match on court five.
Sunday’s contest drew similarities to UCF’s dramatic 4-3 comeback over at the time No. 24 Florida State, largely because it would be El Aouni battling it out once again with the match at three-all. A tiebreak victory on court two in doubles set the tone for a grueling singles bout with Oklahoma State’s Melisa Ercan.
After falling in the first set, results continued to make her court-one contest a must-win match. The freshman responded swiftly in the second, taking it 6-3 to force the third after the Cowgirls had evened the score with wins on courts four and five.
Four consecutive breaks pushed it to four-all, though El Aouni would eventually find her groove, breaking once again before holding serve en route to the 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory.
Now sitting at 8-0 in singles, with four wins each on courts one and two, she continues to live up to the hype after being tabbed the fifth-best newcomer in the nation last fall by the ITA.