Women's Tennis | 02/08/2017

OGDEN, Utah—Idaho sophomore Marianna Petrei was voted the Big Sky's women's tennis player of the week on Wednesday. The honor is the first of the season and third of her career.

Petrei, a native of Udine, Italy, started off her season with a pair of dominant No. 1 singles wins on the Vandals' two-match road trip to Portland. Saturday against Portland, she teamed with Lucia Badillos at No. 1 doubles to defeat the Pilots' Jelena Lukic and Jelena Lazarevic 6-3 and claim the early doubles point. Petrei then made quick work of Lukic on the top singles court, winning 6-2, 6-2 to put Idaho on the brink of the team win. UP took the next two singles points before Idaho clinched the victory on court five.

In the Vandals' Big Sky opener at Portland State, Petrei and Badillos' doubles match went unfinished as Idaho claimed the doubles point at courts two and three. At No. 1 singles Petrei faced Tracy Dong, who has claimed All-Big Sky recognition the past two seasons. Petrei dropped a single game against Dong, rolling to a 6-1, 6-0 decision to help UI take a 4-0 victory.

The 2016 Big Sky MVP is coming off a stellar freshman campaign that saw her go undefeated in Big Sky singles play, 22-3 overall and drop just six sets all season. She also helped lead Idaho to its second straight Big Sky tournament title.

The Vandals are back in action in Las Vegas on Friday. Idaho will open up play against UNLV in the first of its three matches.