2014 Men's Tennis Players of the Week

  • Michael Holt, Washington and Lee, So., No. 2 Singles, No. 1 Doubles
    April 21, 2014
    Holt, a sophomore from Henrico, Va., put together a 7-1 week as the Generals went 3-1 against some of the top teams in the ITA's Atlantic South Region in addition to a win in the ODAC quarterfinals. W&L went up against regionally top-rated Emory University, #10 Sewanee and #11 Oglethorpe, going 2-1 with the lone loss coming against Emory. Holt competed at #2 singles and #1 doubles all week, posting a 3-1 record in singles action with his lone loss to region's fourth-ranked player from Emory (6-4, 6-7, 10-8). Holt won 6-1, 6-4 against OU and followed that with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Sewanee. In the ODAC Tournament against Randolph, he won 6-1, 6-0. In doubles play, Holt and teammate Taylor Shamshiri went 4-0. Rated #5 in the region, the Generals duo defeated the 15th-rated pair from OU, 8-6, and then trounced the #2 team from Emory, 8-3. Holt and Shamshiri added 9-7 and 8-1 wins over Sewanee and Randolph. Holt is now 17-6 overall in singles play and 21-4 in doubles action.
  • Ryan Byrd, Randolph-Macon, Jr., No. 1 Singles, No. 1 Doubles
    April 14, 2014
    Byrd, a junior from Toano, Va., put together a 6-0 week as he helped the Yellow Jackets to three ODAC wins. Byrd capture all three singles wins at the No. 1 flight, winning in straight sets. He topped the No. 1 players from Hampden-Sydney (6-2, 7-6), Randolph (6-2, 6-2) and Shenandoah (6-3, 6-2), leading Randolph-Macon to team wins of 6-3 (H-SC), 9-0 (RAND) and 9-0 (SU). Byrd teamed with Michael Baxter in all three contests, earning No. 1 doubles wins of 8-5 (H-SC), 8-4 (RAND) and 8-5 (SU).
  • Brandon Larsen, Bridgewater, Jr., No. 1 Singles, No. 1/2 Doubles
    April 07, 2014
    Larsen, a junior from Woodbridge, Va., went 6-0 as the Eagles posted a 2-1 record in ODAC play last week as BC defeated Shenandoah (9-0) and Hampden-Sydney (6-3) and fell to Virginia Wesleyan (6-3). Larsen won three times in singles action, all from the top flight. He defeated his counterparts from SU (6-1, 6-3), H-SC (6-3, 6-1) and VWC (6-4, 6-2). He partnered with teammate Thomas Rischoff at #2 doubles all week, earned 8-4, 8-0 and 8-3 wins, respectively. Larsen is now 11-4 overall and 5-1 in the ODAC at #1 singles.
  • Fitzhugh Johnson, Hampden-Sydney, Fr.
    March 31, 2014
    Johnson, a freshman from Fredericksburg, Va., put together a perfect 4-0 week as the Tigers won a pair of ODAC matches last week. In a 6-3 win over Guilford, Johnson won 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 at #2 singles. He followed that with an 8-4 win at #1 doubles with partner J.B. Weaver. In a 9-0 win over Shenadoah, Johnson won 6-0, 6-0 at #2 singles, and against teamed with Weaver for an 8-3 win at #1 doubles.
  • Brandon Larsen, Bridgewater, Jr., No. 1 Singles, No. 1/2 Doubles
    March 24, 2014
    Larsen, a junior from Woodbridge, Va., picks up his second straight weekly award after going 4-0 in singles and doubles action, leading Bridgewater to a pair of ODAC wins. Larsen defeated his No. 1 singles couterparts at Randolph (6-0, 6-0) and Guilford (6-3, 6-3). He joined with partner Thomas Rishcoff to post a No. 2 doubles win (8-1) over the WildCats and a No. 1 doubles triumph (8-6) over the Quakers. Larsen has now won five straight singles matches and seven straight matches in doubles action.
  • Brandon Larsen, Bridgewater, Jr., No. 1 Singles, No. 1/2 Doubles
    March 17, 2014
    Larsen, a junior from Woodbridge, Va., helped the Eagles to a 4-1 showing over spring break as he went 4-0 in singles play and 5-0 in doubles action. Larsen and doubles partner Thomas Rishcoff posted No. 2 doubles wins over Marietta College (8-2), nationally-ranked Case Western Reserve (9-8), Ohio Wesleyan College (8-5) and Penn St.-Behrend (8-0). The duo also posted a No. 1 doubles victory over Eastern Nazarene (8-2). Larsen recorded all four of his singles wins from the top flight, beating the No. 1 players from Marietta (6-1, 6-1), OWU (6-2, 6-4), ENC (6-0, 6-0) and PSU-B (6-0, 6-0). His singles match against CWRU was rained out.
  • Kenny Downing, Virginia Wesleyan, Fr., No. 2 Singles, No. 1 Doubles
    March 10, 2014
    Downing, a freshman from Washington, D.C., helped the Marlins to a 3-0 team record three singles wins and a 2-1 mark in doubles action. Downing posted #2 singles wins against Guilford College (5-7, 6-1, 6-1 over Meiler), Randolph-Macon College (6-4, 4-6, 6-3 over Hoerr) and PSU-Abington (6-0, 6-0 over Howell), with his win over R-MC a key to Marlins' 5-4 team win. He and partner Graham Wilson topped Guilford (8-5 over Votipka/Meiler) and PSU-Abington (8-1 over Howell/Dunson), but lost to Randolph-Macon (8-4 to Byrd/Baxter) in #1 doubles play. Downing's singles record now stands at 3-1.
  • Taylor Shamshiri, Washington and Lee, Jr., No. 1/2 Singles, No. 1 Doubles
    March 03, 2014
    Shamshiri, a junior from Austin, Texas, went 4-2 in W&L's 2-1 week. Competing at #1/2 singles and #1 doubles, Shamishiri opened his week with a 6-1, 6-1 #2 singles win over J.T. von Seggern from Randolph College. He and Michael Holt went on to defeat Daniil Lyalko and Doug Corbett at #1 doubles, 8-1. The duo did it again against Randolph-Macon as they topped Ryan Byrd and Michael Baxter, 8-2 at #1 doubles. Shamshiri defeated Byrd, 6-0, 6-2 at #1 singles. W&L caps its week with a loss to regionally second-ranked Johns Hopkins. Shamishiri fell 7-6 (6-4), 6-4 to Michael Buxbaum at #1 singles, and then dropped a #1 doubles match to Buxbaum and Emerson Walsh, 9-8 (7-5).
  • Blake Brown, Guilford, Jr., 5/6 Singles, 2 Doubles
    February 24, 2014
    Brown, a junior from Kokomo, Ind., went 3-0 in the Quakers 1-1 week, posting a pair of singles wins and one doubles contest. In an 8-1 win over Greensboro, Brown played out of the No. 5 flight and defeated Ian Weiner, 6-1, 6-0. He and partner Turner Votipka won 8-2 over Weiner and Matt Miller at No. 2 doubles. In a 7-2 setback to Methodist, Brown slid to the No. 6 singles and posted a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Austin Daglis.
  • Michael Holt, Washington and Lee, So., No. 1 Singles/No. 1 Doubles
    February 17, 2014
    Holt, a sophomore from Richmond, Va., led the Generals to a 9-0 triumph over Virginia Wesleyan last week. Playing out of the top flights in both singles and doubles action, Holt topped 17th-ranked Graham Wilson in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, in singles play. He and Taylor Shamshiri topped Wilson and Kenneth Downing, 8-2, at #1 doubles.