My oh my how Maryland will suffer when they leave the ACC for the Big Ten. Or so the doubters said. Let's take a look at that. A week ago Sunday, the women's basketball team, Maryland's third B1G championship squad claimed second B1G Tournament title for the Terrapins. On Monday of this week, the list of Terps to claim a Big Ten Player of the Week Award comprised five different Maryland athletes. Tuesday, women's tennis player Alexandra Stanova became the sixth Terps to join that august list when the conference announced that she had been named the women's tennis Athlete of the Week.
The sophomore for Zilina, Slovakia, playing in the number one singles slot, picked up wins over Nebraska's Maggy Lehmicke (6-2, 6-2) and Morgan State's Chelsi Russell (6-1, 6-0). She also joined with Welma Luus (whose name might be familiar to followers of Maryland field hockey) to defeat No. 47 Mary Hanna and Izabella Zgierska of Nebraska (8-5) in doubles play.
But perhaps her most impressive performance came Sunday afternoon when the Terps hosted Michigan. Though the team unfortunately dropped a 5-2 decision to the Wolverines, Stanova topped nationally 19th ranked Ronit Yurovsky in straight sets 6-2, 6-2. The win is the highest ranked player Stanova has defeated in her Terrapins career.
Stanova is the first Maryland women's tennis player to claim a Big Ten Athlete of the Week Award.