HARBATSIUK RECEIVES FIFTH CAREER BIG SKY PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARD

3/23/2010

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – For the third time this season and fifth time of his career, Sacramento State junior Kiryl Harbatsiuk was named the Big Sky Conference’s Men’s Tennis Player of the Week after leading the Hornets to a 2-1 record spanning matches from March 15-22.

Harbatsiuk continued his season-long dominance in both singles and doubles play, going a perfect 3-0 at the No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles spots. Over that three-match span, the Hornets beat UT-Arlington (5-2) and UC Riverside (6-1) while falling to 42nd-ranked TCU (5-2).

Harbatsiuk began the week by defeating TCU’s No. 1 player Emanuel Brighiu by a score of 6-0, 5-7, 6-2, and followed that with a win over UT-Arlington’s Dmitry Minkin, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3. Yesterday, he easily dispatched of UC Riverside’s Quoc Doan by a score of 6-1, 6-0.

In doubles play, he teamed with Marko Starcevic to beat TCU’s No. 1 tandem by a score of 8-1, and UC Riverside’s top doubles team by a score of 8-4. He also teamed with Anton Stryhas to win at No. 1 over UT-Arlington, 8-5.

Harbatsiuk has not lost a singles or doubles match during the entire month of March, and has now won 13-straight singles matches and six straight doubles matches. The Minsk, Belarus, native is 14-1 in singles play and 11-4 in doubles. Harbatsiuk’s only singles loss came to Stanford’s Alex Clayton in a third-set super tiebreaker.

The reigning Big Sky MVP and two-time first team all-conference selection also received the Big Sky’s weekly honor on Feb. 10 and March 10. He won the award once in 2008, and once more in 2009.

Sacramento State (8-7, 4-1) is currently in the midst of a seven-match homestand that will see the team play seven matches at Rio Del Oro Racquet Club over a 19-day span. That homestand began with Monday’s win over UC Riverside, and continues tomorrow when the team hosts Big Sky rival Eastern Washington at 2 p.m.