WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Atlantic 10 Conference has named Dayton fifth-year Matt DeMarco and Richmond sophomore its Men's Tennis Co-Performers of the Week, while Flyer freshman Kyle McNally was tabbed as the Rookie of the Week. On the women's side, VCU junior Yelizaveta Karlova earned her third Women's Tennis Performer honor and Saint Louis freshman Nicolly Ferreira earned the rookie accolade.
DeMarco went unbeaten on the week, going 2-0 at both No. 2 singles and No. 3 doubles, helping the Flyers improve their record to 6-3 on the season. DeMarco won handedly against Marquette to start his weekend, 6-3, 6-1, and then turned around to win his match against Atlantic 10 foe Richmond, 7-5, 6-3, on Sunday. The Erie, Pa. native teamed with senior Ronit Hiryur to win against the Golden Eagles, 6-2, and again over the Spiders, 6-1. DeMarco has won three consecutive singles matches and pushed his doubles mark to 3-2 for the campaign with the two consecutive wins.
Taranov remains undefeated in singles action on the year, going 3-0 this week on singles court No. 6. The Valley Stream, N.Y., native posted the lone singles win for Richmond against VCU, 6-7, 6-3, 11-9 over Voelzke, a 6-1, 6-4 rout over Vazquez of Marquette to help Richmond defeat the Golden Eagles, and finally clinched the match against Dayton. With the match tied at three, Taranov posted a huge 6(1)-7(7), 7(7)-6(5), 6-4 win over Dore (DU) to put UR into the win column, 4-3 and move to 5-1 overall on the year.
McNally put together a 3-0 singles week and added a victory in the lone doubles match he played, helping Dayton to a 2-1 week overall. McNally won all three of his matches in straight sets, defeating Cedarville while playing No. 2, 6-1, 6-2, and winning at No. 4 over Marquette (6-2, 6-3) and Richmond (6-4, 6-2). The Algonquin, Ill., product was a 6-1 victor with Eric Suk over Cedarville in the lone doubles match he played. McNally is now 4-0 on the season when playing at No. 4 and has won four consecutive matches.
Karlova picked up a pair of singles victories at the top spot against Davidson and Maryland last week. Against the Wildcats, the junior from Almaty, Kazakhstan, paired with Emma Valletta for a 6-4 victory at No. 1 doubles, before making quick work in singles, winning 6-1, 6-1. She then began the VCU comeback against the Terrapins with her victory in a competitive three set match, rallying to defeat Minorka Miranda, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 as the Rams outlasted Maryland, 4-3. With her win, she remained undefeated on the season in singles action.
Ferreira, a freshman from Sao Paulo, Brazil, helped lead Saint Louis to a 2-0 week. In a 4-3 win over Oral Roberts, she defeated Reagan Miley 7-5, 6-1 at No. 3 singles and teamed with Norhan Hesham for a 6-4 No. 2 doubles victory over Miley and Aliksandra Lebedeva. Ferreira and Hesham topped Lauren Rowe and Madison Windham 6-2 at No. 1 doubles as the Billikens beat Southern Indiana 4-1.