MELIUK EARNS FOURTH BIG SKY PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARD

4/7/2009

OGDEN, Utah - Sacramento State freshman Maria Meliuk was named the Big Sky Women’s Tennis Player of the Week for matches played from March 31-April 6.

A native of Minsk, Belarus, Meliuk went undefeated last week, as the Hornets picked up three conference wins to close out their Big Sky season undefeated and earn the No. 1 for the conference tournament.

She started the week by upsetting Stanford’s No. 122 ranked Lindsay Burdette at the No. 2 singles position,  6-1, 1-6, 1-0 (10-8) on Wednesday. Meliuk went on to beat Weber State’s Greyce Farias 6-1, 6-1 on Saturday, and followed it up with 7-5, 6-0 win over Montana’s Rebecca Bran on Sunday at home.

In doubles action, Meliuk went 3-1 with partner Aileen Tsan, losing only to Logan Hansen and Veronica Li of Stanford. Meliuk and Tsan moved up to the No. 2 doubles position against Idaho State, posting an 8-1 victory over Sophie Dang and Risa Fujiwara. The duo posted a pair of 8-3 victories at the No. 3 spot against Weber State and Montana.

In her first campaign in the Green and Gold, Meliuk is now 15-5 in singles action and 14-5 in doubles play with partner Aileen Tsan, posting an 8-0 record in Big Sky play in both disciplines. She has earned Big Sky Player of the Week honors four times, the most of any competitor in the conference this season.

The Hornets, who are ranked No. 49 nationally, take a 15-8 record into Friday’s pivotal Causeway Cup clash at UC Davis. They close out the regular season hosting Pacific on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Rio Del Oro Racquet Club. The club will also be the site of this year’s Big Sky Conference Tournament, to be held April 24-26.