Mid-American Conference

MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE ANNOUNCES WOMEN’S TENNIS PLAYER AND DOUBLES TEAM OF THE WEEK
 
MAC Women’s Singles Tennis Player of the Week
Carli Knezevich, Akron – Senior, Austin, Texas (Lake Travis High School)
Akron senior Carli Knezevich opened spring play at a perfect 2-0 in singles action.  On Friday, at No. 2, Knezevich defeated Detroit Mercy’s Jasmine Apawti, 6-2, 6-1.  On Saturday at Pittsburgh, she captured the sole win for the Zips, beating Luisa Varon in straight sets, 7-6 (5), 7-5, at No. 2 singles.
 
Additional Women’s Singles Nominees:
Victoria Sec, Ball State – Freshman, New York, N.Y. (McEnroe Academy)
Ball State freshman Victoria Sec opened the 2018 spring season posting a 2-0 singles mark as a true freshman. Sec started the weekend off with a come from behind win over Caroline Pozo of Northwestern. She defeated her Big Ten foe opponent in three sets, 0-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-7) on court five. Sec finished the weekend off strong registering a straight set victory (6-2, 6-1) over Illinois State's Ivon Mihaleva helping the Cardinals defeat the Redbirds, 6-1.
 
Ayumi Sasaki, Bowling Green – Sophomore, Montreal, Canada
Bowling Green sophomore Ayumi Sasaki went 4-0 against Chicago State and Xavier, helping the Falcons to a 2-0 start to the 2018 campaign. In the season opener against Chicago State, Sasaki helped the Falcons sweep doubles competition by leading outright for a 6-2 win. After dropping a 4-6 result in the opening set, the Montreal, Quebec native made a dramatic comeback as she took the second set 6-3 to force a tiebreaker, one in which she claimed by a 10-8 score. The Falcons went on to earn a dominant 6-1 victory over the Cougars to win the season opener. On Sunday afternoon, Sasaki picked up another pair of victories when she was able to lift Bowling Green to a 4-3 victory over the Musketeers in the final match of the day. Locked at a 3-3 tie, it all came down to Sasaki at No. 4 singles. Fighting her way through the first set, she started up 1-0, but eventually had to fight to tie the set at 5-5. Although her opponent went ahead with a 7-5 win in the first set, Sasaki rebounded to lead her second set outright on her way to a 6-4 victory. Sasaki entered the third set down 4-2 and rebounded to tie the game at 4-4. It was after she regained the lead at 5-4 when her offensive push carried her to a momentous 6-4 walk off win for the Falcons. At the No. 2 doubles spot, Sasaki also paired up with Radeva, where they led their opponents outright for its eventual 6-2 win over the Musketeers.
 
Lena Babunski, Miami – Freshman, Belgrade, Serbia
Miami freshman Lena Babunski competed at No. 4 singles and went 3-0 at the Florida Atlantic Owl Cup last weekend. On Jan. 19, she defeated Elizabeth Pam of Stony Brook, 7-6 (6-0), 6-3 and then on Jan. 20 defeated Paige Christian of Georgia Southern, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.  Babunski completed the weekend on Jan. 21 as she defeated Marisa Ruiz of Florida Atlantic, 6-0, 6-1.
 
Dee Dee Leenabanchong, Toledo – Sophomore, Bangkok, Thailand (Suphanburi Sports School)
Toledo sophomore Dee Dee Leenabanchong defeated Chicago State’s Leshia Gadacz 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-2).  Her match against Michigan State’s Emily Metcalf went unfinished due to clinch rule, but leading 1 set to 0, down 4-3 in second set.
 
Katja Fevralev, Western Michigan – Junior, Bielefeld, Germany (Marienchule der Ursulinen)
Western Michigan junior Katja Fevralev was the lone Bronco to earn a win over Indiana, as she defeated Xiwei Cai in a tough 7-6(2), 7-6(2) battle in the fourth position. With the victory, she remains perfect on the season at 2-0. 
 
 
MAC Women’s Tennis Doubles Team of the Week
Ayumi Sasaki, Bowling Green – Sophomore, Montreal, Quebec
Polina Radeva, Bowling Green – Junior, Varna, Bulgaria
 
Bowling Green sophomore Ayumi Sasaki and junior Polina Radeva helped the Falcons to a 2-0 start to the 2018 campaign by earning a pair of wins in doubles competition. In the season opener against Chicago State on Saturday, the duo helped the Falcons sweep doubles competition by leading outright for a 6-2 win. On Sunday afternoon, the pair picked up another victory as they were able to lift Bowling Green to a 4-3 victory over the Musketeers. At the No. 2 doubles spot, Sasaki paired up with Radeva, where they led their opponents outright for its eventual 6-2 win over the Musketeers.
 
Additional Women’s Doubles Nominees:
Carli Knezevich, Akron – Senior, Austin, Texas (Lake Travis High School)
Rita Pedroso, Akron – Sophomore, Porto, Portugal (Escola Secundaria Garcia de Orta)
 
Akron senior Carli Knezevich and sophomore Rita Pedroso at No. 1 doubles beat freshman twins Chelsea Apawti and Jasmine Apawti, 7-5, in the spring season opener at Detroit Mercy. Akron claimed the doubles point in the team’s 5-2 victory. On Saturday at Pittsburgh, the duo battled Gabriela Rezenda and Jovana Knezevic, dropping a 6-3 decision at No. 1 doubles. The Zips’ duo lost 3 deuce point games, which ended up being the difference in the match. After opening weekend, Knezevich and Pedroso are 1-1 in doubles action.
 
Audrey Berger, Ball State – Junior, Upper Arlington, Ohio (Upper Arlington H.S.)
Rebecca Herrington, Ball State – Sophomore, Alliston, Ontario (Banting High School)
 
Ball State junior Audrey Berger and sophomore Rebecca Herrington at No. 1 doubles went 1-1 suffering a 6-1 loss to Big Ten foe Northwestern but then closed the weekend with a 7-6 win over Illinois State's Veronika Golanova and Jelena Karla Vujicic. 
 
Priyana Kalita, Miami – Freshman, Assam, India
Milana Lysova, Miami – Freshman, Almaty, Kazakhstan
 
Miami freshmen Priyana Kalita and Milana Lysova at No. 2 doubles went 2-0 at the Florida Atlantic Owl Cup this past weekend.  On Jan. 20, the duo defeated Natalia Boltinskaya and Ja'Cara Gillis of Florida Atlantic, 6-4, and on Jan. 21 defeated Elizabeth Tsvetkov and Elizabeth Pam of Stony Brook, 6-1.
 
Dee Dee Leenabanchong, Toledo – Sophomore, Bangkok, Thailand (Suphanburi Sports School)
Colleen O’Brien, Toledo – Senior, Ann Arbor, Mich. (Father Gabriel Richard High School)
 
Toledo sophomore Dee Dee Leenabanchong and senior Colleen O’Brien defeated Michigan State’s Lexi Baylis and Ava Thielman, 6-3, and won their match against Chicago State by default.
 
Katja Fevralev, Western Michigan – Junior, Bielefeld, Germany (Marienchule der Ursulinen)
Melina Lyubomirova, Western Michigan – Junior, Sophia, Bulgaria (Emilian Staneu)
 
Western Michigan’s junior duo of Katja Fevralev and Melina Lyubomirova are riding a two-game winning streak at No. 1 after winning their lone match against Butler on Saturday. The win helped Western Michigan defeat the Bulldogs 7-0 and improve to 2-1 on the season.