Athletes of the week

Connor Hill – men’s basketball

Connor Hill continued to be the go-to scorer for the Vandals, and shined during both games against North Dakota and Northern Colorado. In the disappointing loss to North Dakota, Hill was the only Vandal starter to reach a double-digit point total. He put up a team-high 14 points, with an overwhelming majority of those coming off his four 3-pointers. The senior from Post Falls, Idaho, added one rebound and one assist, along with two steals. Against Northern Colorado, Hill had 21 points, which was the second highest on the team behind Mike Scott’s 23 points. Hill was lethal from downtown once again, this time hitting five 3-pointers. He added three assists and one rebound in the Vandal win. He continues to lead the Vandals in points per game with 15.7, which is also good for 8th in the Big Sky.

Arkadiy Mkrtychyan – men’s basketball

True freshman Arkadiy Mkrtychyan is making an immediate impact for the Vandals as arguably the most valuable bench player. Against North Dakota, Mkrtychyan scored 13 points and pulled down eight rebounds in just 10 minutes of playing time. The biggest part of the freshman’s game was his free throws, as he hit 7-of-8 from the charity stripe. Mkrtychyan also had three steals. Despite the loss, he had the second-highest total for points in the game, behind Connor Hill. In the next game against Northern Colorado, he didn’t have quite the same numbers, but still finished with a solid game. He had four points, one steal, one block and three rebounds in the Vandals’ win over Northern Colorado. Mkyrtychyan is now averaging 8.4 points per game in just 19.1 minutes per game for Idaho.

Rachel Millet – swim and dive

Senior Rachel Millet continued her hot streak and won all three of her events and group events in Idaho’s win over Grand Canyon. Millet teamed up with fellow Vandals Cara Jernigan, Jamie Sterbis and Erica Anderson to win the 200-medley relay. Millet didn’t stop there, as the Spokane native and Ferris High School alumna also won the 200 free with a 1:52.21 time, the 100 free at 51.22 and the 200 individual medley with a solid time of 2:04.95. This comes after Millet’s great play in the Vandals’ last few meets, solidifying her as one of the best swimmers for Idaho.

Mark Kovacs – men’s tennis

The men’s tennis team had a lot of good and bad happen in its first meet of the spring season at Gonzaga University. One of the good things, was the play of Mark Kovacs. The freshman from Budapest, Hungary, teamed up with Odon Barta and took on Gonzaga’s Nick Kamisar and Alvaro Nazal in the No. 2 doubles match. It was the one doubles win for Gonzaga, as they defeated Kovacs and Barta 6-2. It was in singles where Gonzaga destroyed Idaho, but the lone bright spot for Idaho in singles was Kovacs. He was the only Vandal to win his singles match, as Kovacs defeated Sergio Chip in a down to the wire match 2-0. Kovacs won the first set 7-6 (10) and the second set 7-6 (3).