Freshman Anton Stryhas is from Belarus and got some offers from other schools to play tennis.

But Stryhas took Sacramento State’s offer to heart. Men’s coach Slava Konikov is from Stryhas’ home country, which helped persuade him that Sac State would be a good fit.

After he made his decision, he took a 13 hour flight from Moscow to Sacramento. He made a pit stop in Los Angeles before landing in Sacramento. When he got off the plane, Stryhas thought to himself, “I am going to like this environment.”

Since joining his new doubles partner, senior Gabriel Loredo, they have won their first three matches together.

When they are on the court together, they only think about tennis and try not to let their minds wander. Their success as a doubles team has helped lead the Sac State to a national ranking in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings.

“He plays very aggressively. I always wanted to play with him,” Loredo said.

Loredo said he admires how hard Stryhas practices and because of Stryhas’ work ethic, he is highly respected by the entire team.

One of the top singles and doubles players on the team, Stryhas has compiled a 4-1 singles record, 4-1 doubles and a 23-9 overall career record at Sac State. “He is very hard working and is a good role model for all the other guys on the team,” senior Warwick Foy said.

Coach Vyacheslav “Slava” Konikov and assistant coach Kevin Kurtz think Stryhas could add more topspin to his ground strokes, but praised his serve and volleying. Kurtz said that Stryhas is really coachable and always positive.

“I am consistent, I run a lot. I play more with my brains than power,” Stryhas said.

Stryhas said that he has no particular weakness in his game.

Foy and Loredo both said they have learned a lot from Stryhas and consider him a friend on and off the court.

Xavier Barajas-Smith has been a friend and teammate of Stryhas since he got here. Barajas-Smith and Stryhas always hang out together and often talk about the differences between the United States and Belarus.

During the fall season, Barajas-Smith played the No. 1 doubles spot with Stryhas. They also have played singles against each other many times in practice, and Barajas-Smith said all their matches in singles have been competitive.

Stryhas has been playing tennis for 12 years. He wanted his life to be based around tennis and discovered that passion himself. At seven years old, he even went to a tennis school.

“Tennis is my only sport,” Stryhas said.

Tyrone Bowman can be reached at [email protected]