OGDEN, Utah – University of Idaho graduates Mark Kovacs (men's tennis) and Nejra Solo (women's basketball) represented the Vandals as 2017-18 Big Sky Scholar-Athletes of the Year. The award was given to one female and one male student-athlete from each Big Sky member institution.
 
Kovacs concluded his Vandal career in the spring as a five-time All-Big Sky performer and the program record holder for individual singles victories with 97. He was named All-Big Sky First Team in both singles and doubles each of the last two years. The native of Budapest, Hungary, helped guide the Vandals to three Big Sky Championships during his career, including back-to-back titles in his final two seasons. Kovacs finished his senior season ranked No. 4 in the ITA Mountain Region doubles rankings with teammate Carlos Longhi Neto.
 
Kovacs was equally impressive in the classroom during his career at the U of I, earning Big Sky All-Academic honors each of his four years. A double-major in business-economics and finance, he posted a perfect 4.0 grade-point average in his final semester to graduate Cum Laude with a cumulative GPA of 3.69.
 
Last season was a career year for Solo, athletically. She played in all 33 games, including 24 starts while shooting 55.9 percent from the field to lead the Vandals. The Zenica, Bosnia, native concluded her career with the fifth-best field goal percentage in program history, connecting at a 52.6-percent clip.
 
Solo earned her bachelor's degree in molecular biology in the spring of 2017, finishing with a 3.82 GPA. She spent the 2017-18 academic year as a graduate student, posting a 4.0 GPA through two semesters of work toward a master's degree in plant pathology.
 
To qualify for the Big Sky Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award, a student-athlete must be a member of the graduating class and/or have completed their last year of intercollegiate athletic eligibility during the 2017-18 academic year, participated in Big Sky competition, have completed at least two years of intercollegiate competition and be a letterwinner in their respective sport.
 
The complete list of 2017-18 Big Sky Scholar-Athletes can be found below.
 
Cal Poly
Jared Mohamed, Football, Brawley, Calif., Business Administration
 
Hartford
Lucas Sapin, Men's Golf, Poitiers, France, Engineering
 
Eastern Washington
Bogdan Bliznyuk, Men's Basketball, Lutsk, Ukraine, Management
Chloe Williams, Women's Soccer, Spokane, Wash., Exercise Science
 
Idaho
Mark Kovacs, Men's Tennis, Budapest, Hungary, Business Economics & Finance
Nejra Solo, Women's Basketball, Zenica, Bosnia, Molecular Biology
 
Idaho State
William Edin, Men's Tennis, Sigtuna, Sweden, Business Administration
Ashley Sondag, Women's Track & Field, Casper, Wyo., Political Science
 
Montana
Hailey Hoagland, Women's Golf, Butte, Mont., Finance
Fabijan Krslovic, Men's Basketball, Sydney, Australia, Finance
 
Montana State
Mitchell Herbert, Football, Eugene, Ore., Cell Biology and Neuroscience
Angelina Philippova, Women's Tennis, Astrakhan, Russia, Business Finance
 
North Dakota
Mat Cox, Football, Olympia, Wash., Civil Engineering
Taylor Nadler, Softball, New Haven, Mo., Kinesiology
 
Northern Arizona
Matt Baxter, Men's Track & Field/Cross Country, New Plymouth, New Zealand, Master of Applied Criminology
Brooke Andersen, Women's Track & Field, Vista, Calif., Environmental Sciences
 
Northern Colorado
Andrew Romano, Men's Golf, Lone Tree, Colo., Sociology
Lauren Paige, Softball, Highlands Ranch, Colo., Sports Coaching
 
Portland State
Justin Outslay, Football, Salem, Ore., Business Finance
Tasha Bojanic, Volleyball, Belgrade, Serbia, Computer Science
 
Sacramento State
Max Jette, Men's Track & Field, Happy Valley, Ore., Biology
Astha Madan, Women's Golf, Gurgaon, India, Psychology
 
Southern Utah
Matthew Wright, Men's Track & Field/Cross Country, Enoch, Utah, Psychology
MaCail Evans, Volleyball, Minersville, Utah, Master of Public Administration
 
UC Davis
Derek Baljeu, Football, Huntington Beach, Calif., Master of Viticulture & Enology
 
Weber State
Andrew Vollert, Football, San Mateo, Calif., Communication
Kirtlyn Bohling, Softball, Salem, Utah, Health Promotion