April 17, 2012

Mikolaj Caruk was named the men's tennis Big Sky Player of the Week after he went 2-0 in singles and teamed up with Andrew Warren to go 2-0 in doubles. The wins helped the Griz wrap up the first Big Sky regular-season title in school history and complete a perfect 8-0 conference season.

This is the second consecutive week that a Grizzly has won the award, freshman Andreas Luczak was awarded last week's honor.

Caruk, a sophomore from Warsaw, Poland, recovered from a mid-season emergency appendectomy and has been very strong at No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles.

Caruk and Warren were trailing 6-2 against Eastern Washington but stormed back to take the match 9-8 giving the Griz the doubles point. Caruk set the tone for the Griz in the singles competition with a quick 6-1, 6-0 win which game Montana a 2-0 lead.

Against Montana State Caruk and Warren again won a tough match 8-6 to seal the doubles point for the Griz. His singles match was a three-set marathon but he pulled out the 7-6, 4-6, 6-2 win.

Coach Kris Nord is proud of what Caruk has accomplished considering the medical issues he has had to deal with.

"He is just six weeks removed from having his appendix taken out," nord said. "He fought through it and even when he wasn't fully recovered came out and contributed.

"We wouldn't have had the success that we had this season if it wasn't for him," Nord said. "He has played at a high level and has been a leader on the court. He deserves this honor."

The Grizzlies are preparing for the Big Sky Conference held Saturday and Sunday in Gold River, Calif. The Grizzlies will face four seed Weber State at 3 p.m. MTN Saturday.