Anna Baronayte ? Akron
Sophomore - St. Petersburg, Russia (Arystos Lyceum/West Virginia State/St. Petersburg State)
Baronayte finished the week with a combined 4-0 record, behind a pair of victories on both the doubles and singles court, as Akron split its two matches. In UA's 6-1 win over Bowling Green on Friday, she notched a 7-5, 6-0 No. 2 singles win, after winning 8-3 at No. 1 doubles with teammate Zara Harutyunyan. The victory marked UA's first over the Falcons since 1993. In Saturday's 4-3 loss to nationally-ranked Western Michigan, Baronayte won 6-1, 6-3 at No. 2 singles and 8-4 at No. 1 doubles with Harutyunyan. Against WMU, UA claimed the doubles point for the 11th time in 12 matches and handed the Broncos their first loss of the doubles point against a MAC opponent since Marshall won the early point over WMU in the 2005 MAC Championship title match.
Additional Nominees
Katia Babina ? Bowling Green
Junior - Glenview, Ill. (Glenbrook South)
Went a combined 3-1 as the Falcons split a pair of road matches ... BGSU lost at Akron, 6-1, before bouncing back to pick up a 4-3 win over the defending MAC Tournament champions, Buffalo ... won her matches at the fourth singles flight in straight sets, losing only two games in her win over UA's Jeremie Benjamin (6-0, 6-2) and also sweeping UB's Diana Toia (6-4, 6-3) ... teamed with classmate Samantha Kintzel in doubles ... after losing a narrow match in a tiebreaker (8-7 [1]) vs. the Zips, that duo won an 8-3 decision against the Bulls ... now has a career total of 90 wins ... just a junior, she already is tied for 22nd in school history in combined career wins.
Denise Harijanto ? Buffalo
Junior - Jakarta, Indonesia
Harijanto went 3-1 on the week, sweeping her singles matches at first singles. In UB's win over Western Michigan, Harijanto defeated the reigning MAC Player of the Year in straight sets, beating Kerstin Pahl, 7-6 (4), 6-3. The following day against Bowing Green, Harijanto defeated Kelsey Jakupcin, 6-0, 6-1. Harijanto, who split up with her regionally-ranked doubles teammate on Friday, was back with Diana Popescu on Saturday and the first doubles team defeated Bowling Green, 8-1.
Anastasia Dracheva ? Miami
Sophomore - Moscow, Russia
Went 4-0 during the week. Versus Eastern Michigan (4/10) she defeated No. 2 Karina Ahuja 6-0, 6-0, and against Toledo - defeated No. 2 Ashley Frey 6-3, 6-2. In doubles, Dracheva teamed with Monica Gorny for a pair of 8-1 victories over Karina Ahuja and Xu Chang (Eastern Michigan) and Ashley Frey and Nadia Zoubareva (Toledo).
Amanda Moccia ? Western Michigan
Sophomore - Livonia, Mich.
Amanda Moccia was a perfect 3-0 for Western Michigan in road matches at Buffalo and Akron. She remained perfect with partner Kerstin Pahl at 16-0 as they defeated Buffalo 8-4 and Akron 8-5. She then improved to 2-0 in MAC singles by winning 6-0, 6-2 to help clinch the victory over the Zips.
Previous Honorees
Jan. 20: Zara Harutyunyan ? Akron
Jan. 27: Maha Guirguis ? Toledo
Feb. 4: Ashley Moccia - Western Michigan
Feb. 11: Kerstin Pahl - Western Michgan
Feb. 18: Tanyaradzwa Gombera ? Akron
Feb. 25: Zara Harutyunyan ? Akron
Mar. 4: Emily Dudzik ? Western Michigan
Mar. 11: Kathryn Friedlund ? Northern Illinois
Mar. 18: Kerstin Pahl ? Western Michigan
Mar. 25: Denis Harijanto ? Buffalo
Apr. 1: Stefanie Menoff ? Bowling Green; and Emily Dudzik - Western Michigan
Apr. 8: Monica Gorny - Miami
Last Week’s Results:
Friday ? April 10
at Akron 6, Bowling Green 1
Toledo 7, at Ball State 0
at Buffalo 4, Western Michigan 3
at Miami 7, Eastern Michigan 0
at De Paul 7, Northern Illinois 0
Saturday ? April 11
Western Michigan 4, at Akron 3
Eastern Michigan 4, at Ball State 3
Bowling Green 4, at Buffalo 3
at Miami 7, Toledo 0
This Week’s Schedule:
Friday ? April 17
Ball State at Bowling Green, 1 p.m.
Miami at Western Michigan, 1 p.m.
Northern Illinois at Toledo, 1 p.m.
Saturday ? April 18
Ball State at Western Michigan, 1 p.m.
Akron at Buffalo, 1 p.m.
Miami at Bowling Green, 1 p.m.
Northern Illinois at Eastern Michigan, 1 p.m.