NEWPORT NEWS, Va. –Artem Khrapko of Davidson was named the Atlantic 10 Conference Men’s Tennis Player of the Week while his teammate, Alexandra Abele, was awarded the Women’s Tennis Player of the Week. Also honored was Dayton’s Will Harper, who was named the Men’s Rookie of the Week and Davidson’s Lindsay Song who was named the Women’s Rookie of the Week. The awards were based off performances from March 5 – 11.
Khrapko, a senior from Corning, N.Y., had a good week in matches against Duquesne, Bethune-Cookman and Saint Joseph’s by going a combined 6-0 in singles and doubles play at the No. 1 position. The three singles wins pushed his winning streak to seven in a row, a season-best, winning all three matches in straight sets. Khrapko helped the Wildcats win their first two A-10 matches of the season by netting 6-4, 6-0 and 6-2, 6-1 wins over the Dukes and Hawks. He teamed with Axel Fries at No. 1 doubles to pick up wins of 7-5, 6-3 and 6-4 on the week and push their winning streak to three in a row.
Abele, a sophomore from Cincinnati, Ohio, had an outstanding week, going 3-0 in singles play, including winning the first two A-10 matches of the season, and winning her lone doubles match. The three singles wins pushed her winning streak to a career-best 11 straight. All three matches were won in straight sets at the No. 3 position. The lone doubles win came against Duquesne at No. 3 with teammate Samantha Armas. Abele is a team-best 11-1 on the season.
Harper won both of his matches this weekend against La Salle, as Dayton cruised to a 7-0 victory over the Explorers. The freshman from Suwanee, Ga., is a perfect 5-0 in singles matches this season and defeated Joe DiOrio at the No. 5 spot in the lineup on Sunday by a score of 6-2, 6-2. Harper teamed up with senior Simon Jayaram in doubles to down Colin Lucius and Patrick Pascual in No. 3 doubles by a score of 6-4. Harper and Jayaram have an overall record of 7-2 and a perfect 3-0 conference record.
Song kept her perfect season going with two more singles wins at No. 5 and 4, both her first career A-10 wins, moving her to 8-0 on the season. The freshman from Birmingham, Ala., pulled out a three-set victory versus Duquesne, her second of the season. Song went 1-1 in doubles with Ally Sexton, collecting their team-best seventh win after a 6-2 victory at No. 2 versus Duquesne.