Head coach Dima Hrynashka of Sacramento State’s women’s tennis team can add a Hornet Award for Best Coach to his list of accomplishments this season – right under winning the program’s 92nd consecutive Big Sky Conference match and 11th straight conference championship.

In his sixth season as head coach of the Hornets, Hrynashka has been named the Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year five times, posted a 112-45 overall record (68-0 against conference opponents), six conference titles and six NCAA tournament berths.

“I’m proud of this accomplishment; to keep winning this long,” Hrynashka said. “This season we lost maybe four singles and one double. I’m really proud of these numbers and the girls for getting excited to play these conference matches.”

Hrynashka has achieved tremendous success throughout his career as a Hornet while coaching a culturally diverse team. The team consists of players from Mexico, Austria, Russia, Germany, Sweden and his home country Belarus. Senior Clarisse Baca said the language barrier was somewhat of a problem at first.

“In the beginning it was hard coming from a different country and having a different coach, especially since he’s Russian,” said junior Rebeca Delgado. “But we started to build this connection and relationship – now, every time he’s on the court with me it means a lot to me.”

Hrynashka said traveling with the team has given him opportunity to spend time and build good relationships with his players. 

“Every trip is a fun trip because we’re all together joking and having fun,” said senior Tatsiana Kapshai. “The activities we do off the court are always something fun. Being a part of that kind of team makes it exciting.”

Hrynashka credits his team with its success and chemistry. He said his players already believe they can win their matches, so his job is simply to motivate and give ways to improve.

With at least one match left in the NCAA tournament, Hrynashka said the team has more work to do to make it past the first round for the first time in school history.

“We talked about it as a team and they’re so excited to work the next few weeks on this and put in the extra time to improve on the elements of tennis,” Hrynashka said. “I feel this year we’ll do something we’ve never done (as a program) before.”

The Hornets do not know what opponent they have drawn in the first round of the tournament, but Delgado said they are going to work hard and whoever they face will get their best.

Top seeds host the first and second rounds regionally on May 11-12. If Hrynashka can keep the Hornets winning past the first two rounds, the women will find themselves playing in the finals on May 16 through 28 at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga.

Additional Comments about Dima Hrynashka

Player Maria Meliuk

“He motivates me personally, sometimes I feel nervous before the match but I go talk to him and he just tells me the right thing. It is a big deal to us to have his support and he makes a big contribution to us and our success.”

Player Clarisse Baca

“He’s believes in me and I believe in him. He’s one of the best coaches I’ve ever had, he’s very committed to the team and all around I give him a 10.”

Player Rebeca Delgado

“He inspires me to play hard, to die on the court. We have a really good relationship and I think he’s a really good coach, one of the best I’ve ever had.”

JJ Williams can be reached at [email protected].