Montana's Bran honored

OGDEN, UTAH (Feb. 10, 2010) -
The Big Sky Conference has selected its tennis players of the Week for matches played between Feb. 10-16. Rebecca Bran of the University of Montana is the women???s player of the week. Sacramento State???s Kiryl Harbatsiuk is the men???s Player of the Week.

Bran, a junior from Melbourne, Australia, went 3-0 at No. 1 singles and 3-0 at No. 1 doubles in Montana???s swing through Colorado against Air Force, Colorado State and Texas-San Antonio.

Bran defeated Air Force???s Christine Monreal 6-3, 6-4, accounting for Montana???s only point in a 6-1 loss on Friday. On Saturday, Bran notched a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory over Micaela Silvia of Texas-San Antonio, helping UM to a 5-2 neutral-court victory. On Sunday, Bran beat Colorado State???s Laura Neal 6-4, 7-6 (2) in the Grizzlies??? 4-3 loss to the Rams.

??Bran and partner Heather Davidson won their doubles matches 8-4, 8-3 and 8-4. Bran is 3-1 in singles action this season.

Other Nominees:
Caitlin Campton, Eastern Washington
Amy Bettis, Idaho State
Laura Villegas, Montana State
Katrina Zheltova, Sacramento State????

Following the announcement Wednesday, UM women???s tennis coach Steve Ascher said, ???This is a great reward for Rebecca, given that she worked so hard through the summer. She has made some impressive adjustments and improvements, and it???s been a pleasure to see her come along as a player. This is a great honor for her and for the tennis program here at UM.

Of her first Player of the Week award, Bran said, ???I???m really happy about the Big Sky???s decision. It is really an honor to be recognized in this way. I had put in some really hard work to get myself fit and prepared during winter break, and it was nice to see it pay off. As for the weekend, I focused really hard upon remaining consistent in all of my matches, and it worked out well in the end.???

University of Montana Athletics

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