After bringing two Big Sky Championship trophies back to Moscow, an armada of additional accolades made their way north.
Junior Marianna Petrei, the women’s team’s top player, was awarded her third Big Sky MVP in three years after another astounding season. Petrei stands as undefeated in Big Sky play while competing at No. 1 singles.
Petrei also earned the coveted spot in the NCAA Singles Tournament, the first female Vandal to do so.
“Marianna has done really well this year,” said women’s head coach Babar Akbar in a news release. “She has had some fantastic wins. She has helped put Idaho tennis on the map.”
Babar earned himself Coach of the Year from the Big Sky. Akbar joined his brother Abid, who coaches Idaho’s men’s team, just two years ago and has gone undefeated in Big Sky Championships so far.
On the men’s side, the Vandals secured five All-Big Sky honors.
Of the First-Team selections, senior Mark Kovaks earned a spot for both his singles and doubles play. Junior Carlos Longhi Neto joined him as another doubles selection.
Senior Felipe Fonesca earned a spot on Second-Team in singles. Longhi Neto was named as an Honorable Mention for singles, and junior Lucas Coutinho and sophomore Esteban Santibanez earned a spot as a doubles pair in the Honorable Mentions.
“Credit goes to the team,” Abid said in a press release. “They have worked hard and ground it out all season. It is awesome to see the rest of the conference reward them for that.”
Brandon Hill can be reached at [email protected]