The University of Akron Athletics
Tennis Adds Pair Of Highly-Touted Recruits
May 14 | Women's Tennis
AKRON, Ohio – The University of Akron
tennis team added a pair of impressive student-athletes to its
roster on Wednesday, announcing the addition of Anna
Baronayte and Zaruhi Harutyunyan to the
squad for the 2008-09 season.
"I believe having two extraordinary talents coming to Akron at the
same time should make the next couple seasons the breakthrough
years for the program," head coach Jeffrey
Wyshner said. "We've definitely shown marked improvement over
the last two years, but next season, if we maintain the same
day-to-day effort of the past two years, we should see our
competitive success skyrocket.
"After the season-ending injury to our No. 2 player (senior Amy
Sherlock) in mid-March, we played six underclassmen in our
final nine matches. Mix in Anna and Zara to that group and I wish
the calendar went from May straight to September."
Baronayte, who hails from St. Petersburg, Russia, will join the
Zips with sophomore eligibility status after spending her freshman
season in 2007-08 at Division II West Virginia State. During her
rookie season, she went 28-3 at the team's No. 1 singles position,
including a 5-0 mark versus Division I opponents. She was the West
Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's (WVIAC) freshman-
and player-of-the-year recipient, and helped guide the Yellow
Jackets to their first league championship and first appearance in
the D-II tournament.
"I am extremely excited to have Anna joining the team this fall,"
said Wyshner, who prepares for his third season in charge of the
program. "She had an extraordinary year as a freshman and our team
had the chance to compete against her last fall in a tournament at
West Virginia University, so we know she is ready for the
challenges of playing Division I tennis. Anna's classroom record
also shows that she is a top-notch student, and it is great to be
bringing such an all-around talent into the program. She will
definitely have an immediate impact on the top-three spots in our
singles line-up next season."
Baronayte won the flight "A" singles championship at the Martha
Thorne Invitational at West Virginia in September. In what was her
first-ever collegiate tournament, she defeated Sherlock in the "A"
bracket round of 16, UA's No. 3 player, Tanyaradzwa
Gombera, in the semifinal and West Virginia's No. 1 player in
the championship.
Before beginning her career in the United States, Baronayte was
ranked as high as No. 68 in Under 16 in Russia and No. 101 in her
first year in Under 18. She held a career high ranking of No. 1054
in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) junior rankings in
2006.
Harutyunyan, who is from Yerevan, Armenia, will be a freshman in
2008. She ranked as high as 150th in the ITF junior rankings and
holds a career record of 32-11 in ITF singles play and a 21-9 mark
in doubles play.
"Zara is an incredible tennis talent who has already defeated some
of the best junior players in the U.S. and in the world," Wyshner
said. "Among those victories, are ones over the third-ranked high
school senior and top-ranked high school junior in the nation."
(rankings according to www.tennisrecruiting.net)
Harutyunyan has also posted wins over several players ranked on the
women's professional tour, including Nicole Leimbach (USA)
(career-high No. 486 in 2004 and No. 635 at the end of 2007),
Courtney Nagle (USA) (No. 585 at the end of 2007) and Laurene Fayol
(France) (career-high No. 390 in 2006 and No. 442 at the end of
2007). Recently invited to play on the Armenian Fed Cup Team, she
had to pass on the opportunity because of the potential of it
forfeiting her NCAA eligibility.
"I feel it was a great decision of Zara's to view collegiate tennis
as the next step in her career, which has great potential for her
to play professionally," Wyshner said. "I am very excited to work
with her and to help her take her game to new heights."
The signing of these two players completes Wyshner's 2008-09
recruiting class.
