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UB Men's Tennis Announces Awards
5/19/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo men's tennis squad announced its team awards for the 2010-11 season. Head coach Lee Nickell and his staff made the following presentations: Mitch Zenaty was named Most Improved Player; Jason Shkodnik earned the Bulls Spirit Award and Alex Kalinin was selected as the team's Most Valuable Player.
Zenaty, the winner of the Bulls Spirit Award in 2010, earned the Most Improved Player Award for 2011. A three-year captain, the senior was second on the team in 2010-11 with 16 doubles wins and went 42-42 in his career, tied for ninth all-time. Primarily a doubles specialist in the 2010-11 season, Zenaty teamed with Wojceich Starakiewicz to form UB's number one duo. The pair went 7-5 overall and were 4-1 in Mid-American Conference action. Zenaty also went 8-10 in singles play, seeing action in the number six slot.
Shkodnik, a freshman, was the most vocal member of the Bulls during the season. In limited playing time, he was 6-3 in doubles action and won three singles matches, including a MAC victory at number four against Chicago State. Shkodnik made his presence known during matches in leading UB's reserves with constant encouragement helping his teammates to play their best.
Kalinin, was second on the team with a 17-11 singles record, going 3-1 in MAC play. He saw action in the third through six spots in the singles lineup, playing primarily at fifth or sixth singles, where he was a combined 7-4 during the dual portion of the schedule. The junior earned All-MAC Tournament honors as he won both of his tourament matches in helping the Bulls reach the conference semifinals. He won his last five singles matches, including both in the MAC Tournament, all in straight sets and holds a career record of 43-30 in singles, ranking among the top 15 on UB's all-time singles wins list. In doubles, he went 11-7 and won the C doubles title with Vusa Hove at the Farnsworth/Princeton Invitational last fall.
The Bulls finished the 2011 season with a 12-8 overall record and 3-2 mark in MAC play and reached the semifinal round of the 2011 MAC Championships.
