HRYNASHKA EARNS FOURTH STRAIGHT BIG SKY WOMEN'S TENNIS COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD

4/28/2011

Dima Hrynashka won his fourth consecutive Big Sky coach of the year award on Thursday.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Sacramento State women's tennis coach Dima Hrynashka was named the Big Sky Conference women's tennis coach of the year, the league announced on Thursday. It is the fourth straight time Hrynasha has earned the award.

In his fifth season as the team’s head coach, the four-time Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year has led the Hornets to a 95-35 overall record, a 39-0 Big Sky Conference record, five Big Sky regular season championships, five Big Sky Tournament titles and five NCAA Tournament appearances.

In addition, his players have accumulated 25 Big Sky all-conference awards, including five MVPs and 16 first team selections.

Tatsiana Kapshai earned her second consecutive Big Sky Conferene MVP award this season and was joined on the league's first-team by Clarisse Baca, Rebeca Delgado and Maria Meliuk. Freshman Sophie Lohscheidt earned second-team honors. Baca's 20-8 singles record was the first 20-win season for the Hornets since 2008.
   
In 2011, the Hornets (19-8, 8-0 Big Sky) were ranked as high No. 29 in the nation after going 6-2 in their first eight matches with their only losses to No. 5 ranked UCLA and No. 6 ranked California.

Hrynashka led Sacramento State to a perfect 8-0 mark in conference play once again and helped maintain the Hornets’ ridiculous winning streak against Big Sky Conference foes - 82-0 since 2002 in league matches, including both regular season and postseason duals. Sacramento State defeated host Montana State, 4-0, in the semifinals and swept Northern Arizona (4-0) in the finals of the Big Sky Conference tournament.

Hrynashka began his coaching career in 1998, where he tutored youth players for three years at the Olympic Center of Belarus. In 2003, he moved on to coaching the 14-under girls and boys national team of Belarus. His time with the national youth teams was highlighted by his girls 14-under team winning the 2003 world championship.