Hampton junior Fedor Shirin was named Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Men’s Tennis Player of the Week today, with North Carolina Central’s Theofanis Kontoloupos earning Rookie of the Week honors. On the women’s side, Bethune-Cookman junior Debora Echeverria was named Player of the Week, while Norfolk State’s Paula Fortuno earned Rookie of the Week honors.
Shirin (6-3, Jr., Novosibirsk, Russia) helped Hampton open its season with a win at Delaware, picking up victories in both singles and doubles play. He picked up a three-set win – 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 – from the No. 3 singles position over Colin Wong, and Shirin also won his doubles match, along with Luke Thompson, over Blaise Casselbury and Laurenz Lankes 6-0.
Kontoloupos (6-2, Fr., Corinthos, Greece) picked up a straight-sets win in North Carolina Central’s only match of the week, defeating Liberty’s Chase Burton in the No. 2 position 7-5, 6-2.
Echeverria (5-3, Jr., Santiago, Chile) had two singles wins and a doubles win this past week. She defeated Troy’s Jiayuan Xue 6-1, 6-1 on Saturday, before picking up a win over Embry-Riddle’s Georgina Wood, 6-4, 7-5 on Tuesday. She also had a doubles win against Embry-Riddle, a 9-7 decision.
Fortuno (5-7, Fr., Vila-real, Spain) won the deciding singles match for the Spartans over Delaware State in their conference opener, defeating the Hornets’ Leza Bessonva 6-1, 7-5 in the No. 4 position.
Other Top Performers
Juan Araoz (HAM) picked up his first career win in singles play, 6-2, 6-4 over Delaware’s Laurenz Lankes.
Adair Bartra (NCAT) defeated Longwood’s Noah Petralia 7-6, 7-6 on Saturday, accounting for the Aggies’ lone point of the match.
Gabriel Cucalon (NCCU) picked up singles and doubles wins in the Eagles’ loss to Liberty; he won his singles match 6-3, 6-2 in the No. 1 position.
Dajana Cvjetkovic (NSU) picked up singles and doubles wins over Delaware State, helping the Spartans win their first conference match.