The BYU-Hawaii Men’s and Women’s Tennis teams started their 2014 season last week as the No. 2 women beat both Whitman University 9-0 and Claremont McKenna College 8-1, while the No. 18 men took on Division 1 opponent Sacramento State but fell short losing 5-2. The women’s team is hopeful this year will be even more successful than last year’s Conference Championship and 2nd place finish in the National Tournament. This year the team is led by veterans, Marika Kobayashi, a senior from Hiratsuke, Japan; senior Sasha Ulbrictova; and junior Marietta Tuionetoa, a political science major from Palo Alto, Calif. The women started the season off on the right foot, dominating their first two matches, losing only one set.Kobayashi and Tuionetoa were impressive in both singles and doubles matches, winning their singles matches handily and helping the team complete the sweep of their opponent in all doubles matches. Ulbrictova and doubles partner, Jade Griffin, from Mooroolbark, Australia, also had a great start to their 2014 season sweeping the doubles in both matches of the year. “We weren’t real sure how we were going to perform, but we did much better than we thought. We have a good mix of returners and new recruits so we feel like a solid team this year,” said Tuionetoa.The 2014 season should be an exciting one as the women will try and win the National Championship for the first time since the team won it in 2007. “We are a young team this year, but I am hopeful that the younger players will come along and we will make the National Tournament,” said Coach David Porter. The men’s team is led by returning All-Pac West 1st and 2nd team members Yevhen Zakharov, a senior from Lviv, Ukraine; senior Martin Chojnacki from Swinoujscie, Poland; and Wei-Feng Lee, a sophomore from Taiwan. The Seasider men took on Division I opponent Sacramento State to start their 2014 campaign. Both Chojnacki and Feng Lee won their singles matches, but it wasn’t enough as the men fell to Sacramento State 5-2. “It went good. I felt a little weird being back after two and a half years of not playing tennis, but I thought it went pretty good,” said Taylor de Hoyas, a sophomore history education major from Pleasant Grove, Utah, who just returned from an LDS mission.The #18 ranked Seasiders will have their work cut out for them this year, as the PacWest conference is full of talent. Including BYUH, there are four teams in the conference ranked in the top 25 in the nation. “The conference is very good and hopefully we have all our players eligible and healthy when we play those teams,” said Coach Porter. The Seasiders are eager for the challenge the difficult conference provides and are optimistic about their chances of bringing home the conference title. “Our goal is to make it to nationals this year. We are still waiting on a few players to become eligible which will help make our team really good this year,” said de Hoyas.
Writer: Matthew Roberts ~ Multimedia Journalist
