The University of Akron Athletics
Anya Baronayte Named MAC Tennis Player of the Week
April 28 | Women's Tennis
- For the third time in the last four weeks and sixth time this season, a member of the University of Akron tennis team was named as the Mid-American Conference Player of the Week, the league office announced on Wednesday. This week's recipient was junior Anya Baronayte (St. Petersburg, Russia/Arystos Lyceum/West Virginia State/St. Petersburg State), who earned the award for the second time this season (also on Feb. 11) and third time in her career (also on April 15, 2009).
Baronayte posted a 4-0 combined record (2-0 in singles, 2-0 in doubles) last week, including a match-clinching 6-4, 6-0 victory at No. 5 singles versus Western Michigan on Saturday as she rallied to win the last nine games of her match. Her performance helped Akron to its first-ever win over WMU in 21 all-time meetings. Baronayte also posted a 7-6 (2), 6-2 win at No. 5 singles at Bowling Green on Friday, to go with a pair of 8-3 wins at No. 2 doubles over the two days. It was UA's second-straight win over Bowling Green and its first road win versus the Falcons since April 24, 1993 (7-2).
With her weekend showing, Baronayte became the fifth Zip this season to reach the 50-win combined singles and doubles plateau - a mark reached by only five other players since Akron obtained varsity status in 1977. She is 19-1 in singles dual matches and 16-3 in doubles dual competition this season.
Along with Baronayte's pair of player of the week honors this season, UA freshman Angelina Jogasuria was selected on Jan. 28 and April 21, junior Jeremie Benjamin on March 10 and sophomore Zara Harutyunyan on April 7. The Zips' six accolades this season leads the MAC, with Bowling Green's three being the next closest, and today's announcement marks the 14th time in team history that UA has earned the award and the 10th occasion over the last two seasons.
Second-seeded Akron (18-2, 7-1 MAC) will face seventh-seeded Bowling Green (12-9, 2-6) in the quarterfinal round of the MAC Championship on Friday at 2 p.m. ET. The event is being held on the Western Michigan campus in Kalamazoo. The Zips clinched a bye out of the league championship's first-round for the second-consecutive year, after achieving their highest-ever finish in the conference standings. Akron finished the year with a program single-season record for league wins and tallied the most overall victories since the 1990-91 squad posted a 26-6 mark.
The tournament winner will earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship. MAC Championship Central (WMUBroncos.com)
Players Mentioned
