Morgan State's Duk Young-Park and Ekaterina Iakovelva were chosen as the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Men's and Women's Tennis Athletes of the Week for matches played February 24-March 3, the conference announced on Tuesday. Morgan State teammate Chelsi Russell received Women's Rookie of the Week honors, while Dzmitry Zyhmantovich of Norfolk State was named Men's Rookie of the Week, respectively.
Young-Park (So., Silver Spring, Md.) was 3-0 in singles and doubles play against Loyola and Robert Morris. He went 6-0, 6-3 to take the singles match against Loyola, then followed with a 6-2, 6-3 victory against Robert Morris. Young-Park teamed with Eric Ward for an 8-6 win in a doubles contest against Robert Morris’ Angus Thompson and Tarun Kishan.
Iakovelva (Jr., Vladivostok, Russia) defeated Loyola’s Megan Hahn 6-2, 6-3 at the number one spot match, then took on Robert Morris’ Carolina Mourao Teixeira for a 6-0, 6-2 win. She partnered with Jasmine Edwards for an 8-4 doubles victory at the number one position against Robert Morris.
Russell (Fr., Nassau, Bahamas) earned a number four singles victory against Loyola with a 6-4, 6-1 effort and defeated Clarissa Chen of Robert Morris 4-6, 6-4 for a second singles win. She added wins in doubles play with Mi’Kola Cooper in an 8-6 performance against Loyola and an 8-2 effort against Robert Morris.
Zyhmantovich (So., Munich, Germany) improved to 8-2 on the season to stay a perfect 3-0 in MEAC matches after posting a 6-0, 6-2 win over Bethune-Cookman’s Gilbert Rotich at the number one singles position. Zyhmantovich and teammate Peter Rastromer-Pello fell to B-CU’s Juan Varon and Seve Day 8-6 in doubles competition.
Other Top Performers:
Esmira Gheisary (SSU) earned a 7-6, 5-7, 10-8 singles win and an 8-5 doubles win against North Carolina A&T.
Daniel Grauel (NSU) claimed a 6-2, 7-5 singles victory over Bethune-Cookman’s Moritz Pronath and teamed with Samuel Lemberger for an 8-3 doubles win over the Wildcats’ Kip Jackson and Gilbert Rotich.
Mafalda Lhorca (NSU) earned the lone win for the Spartans in a 6-2, 7-6 victory against Bethune-Cookman.