The Sacramento State men’s tennis team said its serving could improve. A serve is inevitably valuable since it kicks off each point in tennis. While it won’t ever be perfect, it can be adjusted accordingly with the aid of a coach who has tons of experience.

Vyacheslav “Slava” Konikov is in his second year with the men’s tennis team.

Konikov began at Sac State coaching the women’s tennis team for two years before becoming the coach of the men’s team on Sept. 1, 2005.

Konikov has an extensive tennis resume as a coach in Belarus and Poland. Most notable of the players he coached is Max Mirnyi, who has become a household name in the Association Tennis Professional circuit and was No. 1 with Jonas Bjorkman in doubles in the world.

Freshmen Anton Stryhas, from Konikov’s home country of Belarus, said, “Konikov is like our friend. He works us hard.”

Like many successful coaches during his playing days, Konikov was one of the top singles players in the Soviet Union when he was 18 years old. He graduated from Moscow Sports University where he gained high recognition as a tennis player.

Hague Van Dillen, from San Francisco, said he loves the coaches. “Slava is a coach to love, and Kevin brings a good atmosphere. Everyone wants to play hard and work longer for them.”

Assistant coach Kevin Kurtz coached 10 years of high school tennis and also coached at American River College.

In his first season with the men’s tennis team, Konikov coached the team to a share of the Big Sky Conference regular-season championship with a 5-1 conference record.

Last year, two Hornets, Junaid Hossain and Gabriel Loredo were named first team all-Big Sky under Konikov’s coaching. The team’s 2006-07 recruiting class was ranked the 18th best class among all Division I schools by the Tennis Recruiting Network.

With four players returning, including Loredo, the Sac State men’s team was picked to finish first in the Big Sky Conference preseason polls. Loredo, a transfer student from Wichita State, is one of five players from other countries.

Sac State’s men’s tennis team brings much international flavor to the Big Sky Conference. Warwick Foy is from New Zealand and Miguel Camino, a senior from Ecuador has played two years at American River College and Sonoma State.

Foy is an optimist. “I fight my hardest every point. I try to play each point with the same mindset,” he said.

Perez said he was recruited because his brother played for Sac State’s football team, but would like to see more people come out to the matches. He joked, “Only the hot girls need to come to our matches.”

Perez believes his forehand is his weak shot. “I try to avoid the forehand as much as possible.” Kurtz believes a few good matches will be good for Perez’s psyche.

Sac State men’s tennis is full of talent and has plenty to accomplish this year. Freshman Xavier Barajas-Smith said the team goal is to win the conference.

Barajas-Smith believes how a player matches up against the opponent is the main reason for who wins the matches.

Barajas-Smith is the No. 1 singles player on the team, but admits he has the worst volleys on the team. He uses technique and power in his shots so he does not have to endure a long rally. He is used to playing on the baseline and not attacking the net.

“I try to the hit the ball harder so I don’t have to run,” Barajas-Smith said.Tennis players are usually introduced to the game at a young age and, among players in Sac State’s men’s tennis program, that is not an exception.

Loredo said it is harder in the spring balancing classes with tennis because of the increased amount of traveling. He is used to the grind and is appreciative to the faculty. “Professors support the athletes very well,” Loredo said.

In its first match of the season, Sac State fell to Oregon 5-2. Despite that, the team looks to build on the fall season with three seniors on the team.

Women’s tennis enters home opener at 3-2

With wins over 39th-ranked Oregon and Washington, the Sacramento State women’s tennis team’s only losses were the season opener against the 11th-ranked University of California Berkeley and Washington State.

The Hornets started off ranked 63rd in the nation and after, knocking off Oregon, moved up quickly to 47th.

Last year, the team finished the season 14-8 and 6-0 in the Big Sky Conference and ended the regular season 60th in the nation.

The women’s tennis team has become a dominate force in the Big Sky Conference, winning five consecutive titles and earning an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament each of those years. The team is starting off the season with six consecutive road games and will not have a home game until its home opener against Montana State on Saturday.

This year, Dima Hrynashka takes over coaching responsibilities for Bill Campbell. While coach of the women’s tennis team, Campbell had a record of 113 wins and only 68 losses. Campbell coached for eight seasons, six of which were winning seasons. He also had five consecutive Big Sky titles to end his tenure as coach. Campbell was promoted to director of tennis for both the men’s and women’s programs.

Hrynashka, an assistant under Campbell, took over and set his goals for this season very high. “Its going to be tough,” Hrynashka said. “We’re shooting to be in the top 25 at the end of the season.”

There are five returning players from last season, four of which were freshman.

Key returners from last season are Luba Schifris, who finished with a 10-10 singles record from last year, and Joyce Martinez Gutierrez, who finished with a 10-5 singles record.

“Luba was injured last year. This season she has been improving. Joyce practiced very hard all summer. All improved from last season,” Hrynashka said.

Gutierrez and Schifris are the team captains and last season made a winning doubles team, finishing with a 9-5 record as freshman.

Some other returners that look to contribute largely to the team are senior Cecilia Helland, who finished last year with a record of 15-6, sophomore Karina Jarlkaganova, with a record of 10-10, and sophomore Anastassia Lyssenko who finished last year at 7-7. Newcomers to the team are Aileen Tsan, Katrina Bandera, and Katrina Zheltova who already had a shutout in the win against Oregon against Dominika Dieskova in a 6-0, 6-0 match. “Katrina is very strong. She is very helpful for doubles and makes the team even better,” Gutierrez said.

Looking at the roster, not one player on the team or the coach is originally from the US.

Gutierrez said she wanted to attend Sac State because of facilities and the school has some of the best coaches. Communicating with each other isn’t a problem for team, considering the different languages the players speak, as the players agreed to one language while on the court. “There are many different languages and we all have a rule. We all speak in English at all times. We all get along very well and help each other be successful,” Gutierrez said.

The goals the team set for the season, Luba Schifris said, are to get higher in the rankings and win the conference.

“Some of the strengths to the team are we communicate very well between coaches and players. We also have lots of different types of players on the team,” she said.

The team has its goals set very high this year with a tough schedule ahead. They still play No. 2 Standard, which got rained out last Wednesday and will be rescheduled later in the year.

With a core of young and experienced players, Helland said this team could be very dangerous. The team’s home opener against Montana State is set for 9 a.m. on Saturday at Rio Del Oro.

Tyrone Bowman and Sean Wolf can be reached at [email protected]