Sacramento State's Kiryl Harbatsiuk, left, and Tatsiana Kapshai, right, are this year's tennis MVPs.
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Men's All-Conference Team
Women's All-Conference Team
Ogden, Utah, (April 29, 2010) - For the fourth straight year, Sacramento State claimed both the men’s and women’s tennis MVP awards.
Junior Kiryl Harbatsiuk won the men’s MVP for the second consecutive season. Sophomore Tatsiana Kapshai captured her first MVP and was selected to the All-Conference First Team for the first time.
The All-Conference selections and individual awards were voted by the league’s head coaches and released by the league office on Thursday.
This is the eighth straight year a Sacramento State women’s players has been named MVP, and the fourth straight year for a Hornet male.
Kapshai, a native of Minsk, Belarus, is 16-7 overall and was undefeated in conference play. She helped the Hornets (19-6) to their ninth straight Big Sky Championship last week. Sacramento State will represent the Big Sky in the NCAA Championship beginning next week.
Kapshai is one of four Hornets named to the league’s first team. She’s joined by sophomore Clarisse Baca, sophomore Maria Meliuk, and freshman Rebeca Delgado, all who went undefeated in conference singles play.
Sacramento State has won 72 straight matches over conference opponents.
Three freshmen made first team this season: Montana’s Constance Alexander and Heather Davidson, and Delgado. Alexander finished 11-9 overall and 6-2 in conference, while Davidson sported a 11-10 overall mark, 6-2 in conference. Delgado was 5-1 in league and 16-5 overall.
Northern Colorado senior Tabatha Knop (6-2 in conference) was named first team for the third straight season, as was Northern Arizona junior Edit Suhajda. Suhajda (7-1 in conference) helped Northern Arizona to a second-place regular-season finish, and a runner-up finish at the championship.
Harbatsiuk, a junior from Minsk, Belarus, was named to the first team for the third straight season. En route to claiming MVP honors, Harbatsiuk broke the school record for consecutive singles victories with 25 and counting. He went 8-0 in conference and takes a 26-1 overall mark into the NCAA Championship.
Harbatsiuk was one of three Hornets named to the first team. Senior Anton Stryhas, of Minsk, Belarus, earned the honor for the fourth straight season. The 2008 Big Sky MVP went 5-1 in conference and 16-9 overall. Hornet sophomore Jason Smith (23-5 overall) earned first-team honors for the second straight season.
Sacramento State went 7-1 in conference and is 17-11 overall. The Hornets won their second straight Big Sky Championship with a 4-0 win over Northern Arizona last Sunday.
Weber State sophomore Simon Unger and Northern Arizona’s Andrew Reiff were both tapped to the first team for the second straight season.
Rounding out the men’s first team were Weber State’s Sascha Kiehne, Portland State’s Chris Rice, and Montana’s Carl Kuschke.