Athletes of the week

Alex Sele — Volleyball

Sele was one of six seniors who played in their final two home matches in Memorial Gym last weekend, and the middle blocker from Isaquah, Wash., made it count. Sele helped Idaho to two weekend victories and on a Thursday evening sweep of winless La. Tech, she tallied eight kills, the second most among Vandals. Sele’s hitting percentage of .615 was the second highest among all players and her four block assists also tied for a team high. In a tense 3-1 Senior Night victory over Texas-Arlington, Sele was dominant offensively, converting 13 of 23 kill attempts and hitting at a match-high .565. Her nine blocks also led all players.

Jamie Sterbis — Swimming and diving

In a historic home victory over visiting Northern Arizona University, Sterbis, a butterfly specialist, had a breakout meet and contributed to four event victories for a Vandal team that defeated the Lumberjacks for the first time in school history. A South Dakota native, Sterbis smashed the Vandal record in the 200-yard butterfly race. Her winning time of 2:02.86 was five seconds better than her previous personal best and was three seconds better than the previous school record set by Savannah Bettis last spring. Sterbis was also victorious in the 100-yard butterfly race and was a part of two Idaho winning relay teams.

Marius Cirstea/Abid Akbar- Tennis

After falling in their first round match of the Indoor National Champions hosted in Flushing Meadows, New York, Cirstea and Akbar triumphed in two ensuing consolation matches. Cirstea, who paired up with assistant coach Andrew Dobbs at last season’s tournament, won his first ever match at Flushing Meadows, with Akbar, a fellow senior. The two dropped their opener to brothers Ben and Riki McLachlan of California 8-4. Akbar and Cirstea bounced back in the first round of consolation play beating a doubles pair from three-time defending national champion USC. In front of a home crowd, Columbia’s Winston Lin and Bert Vancura were next for the Idaho pair but the senior duo came out of that one as well, ousting Lin and Vancura 8-5 to win the consolation draw.

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