DENVER – Hawai’i’s Dmytro Kovalyov and Barbara Pinterova have been named Verizon Western Athletic Conference Men’s and Women’s Tennis Athletes of the Week, respectively, for the week of March 12-18.
Kovalyov, a junior from Yalta, Ukraine (Saint Stephen's Episcopal School), went 2-0 in singles play, helping the Warriors go 2-0 last week. Kovalyov earned a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 victory over Nevada’s Moez Chargui in No. 3 singles, helping the Warriors open conference play with a 4-3 win. In UH’s loss to Loyola Marymount, he earned one of UH’s two points with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 victory over Sebastian Bustamante. Along with teammate Jonathan Brooklyn, he went 1-1 in No. 1 doubles play, earning a win over Nevada and falling in a tiebreaker to Nevada.
Pinterova, a senior from Bratislava, Slovakia (University of Florida), posted a 3-1 record in both No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles, as the Rainbow Wahine went 3-1 on the week. Pinterova earned straight-set wins over Montana State’s Charlotta Hjalmarsson and Illinois State’s Aniko Kiss, and topped No. 59 Wyoming’s Veronica Popovic in a tiebreaker (7-5, 4-6, 10-3). Her lone loss came to No. 19 Notre Dame’s Shannon Matthews, the No. 52-ranked player in the nation, in a three-set thriller in which she fell 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.
In doubles, with partner Jamie Pawid, her only loss came to the No. 2 ranked duo in the country from Notre Dame, Kristy Frilling and Shannon Matthews, 8-4.
Other men’s nominees included: Idaho sophomore Jose Bendeck … New Mexico State senior Matej Stakne.
Other women’s nominees included: Fresno State sophomore Marianne Jodoin … Idaho sophomore Beatriz Flores … Louisiana Tech junior Alena Erofeyeva … New Mexico State senior Manon Sylvain.