Maria Taranova

Honors & Awards

• Tom Osborne Citizenship Team (2024)
• Master of Sports (Russia)

2023-24: Freshman
Maria Taranova had a stellar freshman campaign with the Huskers. The freshman finished 23-7 in singles play, marking the most by a Husker freshman since Patricia Veresova in the 2009-10 season. In doubles play, the Russian was 15-3, 11-3 in the fall and 4-0 in the spring. Taranova partnered with Zamburek (0-2), Loy (1-0), Roa (3-1 fall, 3-0 spring), Pietrowicz (4-0 fall, 1-0 spring) and Danilchenko (3-0). During the fall, Taranova competed in the ITA Regionals in Lawrence, Kan., where she advanced to the Round of 32 but fell to former Husker Kristina Novak 6-4, 2-6, 6-7 (4-7). 

Off the court, Taranova was part of the 2024 Tom Osborne Citizenship Team.

Before Nebraska 
Taranova joined the Huskers from Volgograd, Russia. Previously, Taranova reached a high of #21 in Juniors under-19 national rankings in Russia. In 2021, Taranova made top 15 in Juniors under-17 national rankings. Taranova competed in the semifinals of the 2022 Russian Junior Championships where she defeated Ekaterina Khayrutdinova, whose career high ITF Junior World Ranking is 36, in the quarterfinals. She also defeated #97 Arina Bulatova in the round robin stage. Taranova qualified for two semifinals of ITF G3 tournaments in Cholpon-Ata in July 2022 and in Ust-Kamenogorsk in November 2022. She also won an ITF G4 tournament in Tbilisi and reached two doubles finals in ITF J5 and J3. Taranova has reached a high of #292 in the World ITF Junior Rankings.

Personal
The daughter of Viacheslav and Olga, Maria was born on June 9, 2005 in Volgograd, Russia. Maria has one sister, Visilisa, and plans to major in Nutrition and Health Science. Taranova’s family has an impressive athletic history. Both of Taranova’s parents were professional track and field athletes. Her mother, Olga, placed fourth in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and her father, Viacheslav, won the 1997 European Championships among youth under 22 in Turku, Finland.

Why Maria Chose Nebraska
“I chose Nebraska because I’m excited to be a member of Nebraska’s family because of the great team and experienced coaches. All these factors can help me to increase my tennis level. Also, the University of Nebraska is very interesting in academics and I’m looking forward to starting my education there!”

Singles

Doubles