NEW YORK—Junior Annalise Klopfer (Palm Harbor, Fla.) was named the BIG EAST Female Athlete of the Week in an announcement made by the conference office on Thursday afternoon. Klopfer wins the honor after helping Villanova go 3-0 in matches played last weekend (April 8-10). She has played exclusively in the No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles positions in her first season with the Wildcats.
 
The highlight of last week for Klopfer came in a home match against St. John's on April 8 when she won her No. 1 singles match in straight sets over three-time BIG EAST Player of the Year Jessica Livianu. Klopfer tallied a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Livianu and was also a winner at No. 1 doubles versus the Red Storm as she and senior teammate Lexi DeNucci (Glastonbury, Conn.) earned a 7-5 victory.
 
Villanova took on St. John's after having not played for 15 days prior to the match, while Klopfer defeated Livianu who had previously been 4-0 in her career in singles matches against the Wildcats. She was named the BIG EAST Women's Tennis Player of the Year each season from 2017-19. Villanova defeated three BIG EAST opponents in consecutive days with a 5-2 decision against the Red Storm followed by road victories over Providence (7-0) and Connecticut (4-3).
 
Klopfer won her singles matches against Providence (6-1, 6-1) and Connecticut (6-2, 6-5) in straight sets. The final team match of the weekend against the Huskies was a come-from-behind effort in which the Wildcats trailed 2-0 before Klopfer notched the first Villanova point of the day with her No. 1 singles victory.
 
Entering play this weekend, Klopfer is 4-3 in singles and 6-1 in doubles on the year. Klopfer is in her first year with the Wildcats after transferring from Navy, where she was the program's Rookie of the Year in 2018-19 and Team MVP in 2019-20. Klopfer was a two-time Patriot League Player of the Week during the 2019-20 season.
 
Villanova hosts Georgetown on Saturday at 12 p.m. before traveling to Seton Hall for a 2 p.m. match on Sunday afternoon. Those are the final two regular season competitions before the Wildcats prepare for the BIG EAST Championships in Cayce, S.C. from April 22-25.