In her senior year at Idaho, after a 4-0 performance against BYU and LCSC Feb. 25, Vandal women’s tennis team captain Molly Knox was named the Verizon WAC Player of the Week for the first time during her two-year career at UI.
Knox said the award was surprising, but in a good way.
“I was excited to hear when (coach) Daniel Pollock told me the news, I was glad he recognized my performance this weekend and nominated me,” Knox said.
Knox said she is also glad the conference recognized a player at the No. 3 position. She said the win against BYU most likely got her the award. Knox beat BYU’s Morgan Anderson 6-2, 6-4 and dominated LCSC’s Samantha Teigen 6-1, 6-0.
Pollock said the BYU match was an accomplishment for Knox.
“She stepped up, beat an extremely good girl in singles, one of the highest rated recruits this year in the region, and Molly went out and basically kicked her butt in two straight-forward sets,” Pollock said.
He said Knox and Sophie Vickers played well in the doubles match against BYU, winning 8-5.
Assistant coach Natalie Kirch said Knox was probably the player surprised by her recognition.
“We were expecting it,” Kirch said. “She always puts so much in and she always plays some tough players so it’s good for her to get noticed.”
Pollock said she has been more than due for an award of this variety.
“She has busted her butt for five years of college tennis, two years at Idaho, so it’s nice to get some recognition for that,” Pollock said. “I think she really deserves it not just for this week but for all the work that she has put in over the years.”
Knox said getting the award in her senior year is a testament to the effort she has put toward improving.
“I think it shows that you do get better every year and it shows that I have accomplished something and improved during my time here,” Knox said.
Pollock said the team realizes the effort Molly puts in and is happy for her to get recognition. This is the second week in a row an Idaho player received the Verizon Player of the Week Award after Almudena Sanz won the award last week.
Pollock said the Vandals are headed in the right direction.
“It’s really good, I think last year we only got one of these kind of awards all year and this year we already had one with Vicky in September and then two players of the week this semester,” Pollock said.
He said while the season is getting tougher, if Idaho continues to step up it has a chance to earn more awards.
“I’m not sure what we fed them but we will keep trying to feed them that through the rest of the season,” Pollock said.
Fresno State is the only other WAC team to achieve two player of the week awards.
“Hopefully it shows other teams that they can’t take us lightly and that we are becoming a team to be reckoned with,” Pollock said.
Charles Crowley can be reached at [email protected]