FARMINGTON, Utah (April 22, 2026) – The Big Sky Conference office announced its 2026 Big Sky Men's and Women's Tennis All-Conference Teams and individual award winners on Wednesday, as Montana tennis programs took half of the individual honors for the regular season.
The all-conference awards and teams are voted on by the league's head coaches. Head coaches could not vote for their own student-athletes.
Coach of the Year was awarded to Montana's Jason Brown on the men's side and Sacramento State's Sophie Breault on the women's side. The honor is the second straight for Brown, while Breault's recognition is the first of her career. Brown becomes the first Big Sky coach to win the honor in consecutive seasons since Sacramento State's Slava Konikov in 2009-11, while Breault is the first Hornet women's coach to win the award since Dima Hrynashka in 2011.
Montana swept the league's Most Valuable Player awards, with Tom Bittner winning on the men's side and Kelsey Phillips for the women. Bittner went 5-2 in conference play for singles, while Phillips posted a perfect 8-0 mark in league action in singles play, as both Grizzlies were slotted at the top of the lineup for their squads.
The honor for Bittner comes after he claimed the tournament MVP honors last season, while Phillips becomes just the third female in Big Sky history to win Freshman of the Year and MVP honors in her career. Phillips joins NAU's Chiara Tomasetti (2017 & 2019) and Gina Dittmann (2021 & 2021/2022) who have achieved the feat.
Freshman of the Year was won by players who come from this year's regular-season champion teams, as Northern Arizona's Jakub Jedrzejczak claimed the honor on the men's side and Sacramento State's Cami Maldonado-Gutierrez won the award on the women's side. Jedrzejczak went 15-4 in singles play this season, with a 7-0 mark in conference action to lead NAU to a 7-0 record in Big Sky play as a team. Maldonado-Gutierrez posted a 16-5 singles mark in her first season, with a 6-1 mark in conference action to lead Sacramento State to a 7-1 record in Big Sky play.
Attention now turns to Phoenix, as the 2026 Big Sky Men's and Women's Tennis Championships start on April 23-25 at the Phoenix Tennis Center.
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2026 Big Sky Men’s Tennis Award Winners
MVP: Tom Bittner, Montana
Freshman of the Year: Jakub Jedrzejczak, Northern Arizona
Coach of the Year: Jason Brown, Montana
All-Big Sky Singles First Team
Tom Bittner, Montana*
Chetanna Amadike, Idaho*
Jakub Jedrzejczak, Northern Arizona*
Noa Tcherniack, Northern Arizona*
Duncan McCall, Montana*
Valentino De Pellegrin, Idaho State
* - unanimous first-team selection
All-Big Sky Singles Second Team
Jakub Volesky, Northern Arizona
Matt Upton, Montana
Sep de Visser, Idaho State
Gabriel Moroder, Idaho
Aarjun Pandit, Portland State
Baltazar Wiger-Nordas, Montana
All-Big Sky Singles Honorable Mention
Nick Bowles, Sacramento State
Felix Neumeister, Northern Arizona
Ken Dinh, Weber State
Eddie Biss, Montana State
Honorable Mention must receive at least 3 votes
All-Big Sky Doubles First Team
Duncan McCall/Baltazar Wiger-Nordas, Montana*
Takumi Katsuda/Vincent Vohl, Northern Arizona
Jakub Jedrzejczak/Jakub Volesky, Northern Arizona
* - unanimous first-team selection
All-Big Sky Doubles Second Team
Valentino De Pellegrin/Tyler Dalos, Idaho State
Chetanna Amadike/Gabriel Moroder, Idaho
Johnny Wilkinson/Matt Upton, Montana
All-Big Sky Doubles Honorable Mention
Sep de Visser/Quentin Lamothe, Idaho State
Tom Bittner/Eivind Tandberg, Montana
Aarjun Pandit/Maas Schotanus, Portland State
Honorable Mention must receive at least 3 votes
2026 Big Sky Women’s Tennis Award Winners
MVP: Kelsey Phillips, Montana
Freshman of the Year: Camila Maldonado, Sacramento State
Coach of the Year: Sophie Breault, Sacramento State
All-Big Sky Singles First Team
Kelsey Phillips, Montana*
Patrycja Niewiadomska, Northern Arizona*
Lou Baudouin, Sacramento State*
Millie Day, Idaho State
Irene Riva, Sacramento State
Angel Bean, Montana State
* - unanimous first-team selection
All-Big Sky Singles Second Team
Andrea Noguera, Northern Arizona
Natalie Rainke, Northern Arizona
Marta Giglio, Portland State
Camila Maldonado, Sacramento State
Veronika Zarovna, Idaho State
Zoe Pradel, Eastern Washington
All-Big Sky Singles Honorable Mention
Emmy Richards, Idaho State
Elen Jantacova, Northern Arizona
Palina Saulevich, Sacramento State
Stefanya Shalakhova, Idaho State
Honorable Mention must receive at least 3 votes
All-Big Sky Doubles First Team
Irene Riva/Palina Saulevich, Sacramento State*
Stefanya Shalakhova/Veronika Zarovna, Idaho State
Marta Giglio/Hana Abdelhamid, Portland State
* - unanimous first-team selection
All-Big Sky Doubles Second Team
Angel Bean/Nia Gelashvili, Montana State
Elen Jantacova/Natalie Rainke, Northern Arizona
Patrycja Niewiadomska/Andrea Noguera, Northern Arizona
All-Big Sky Doubles Honorable Mention
Camila Maldonado/Reese Walker, Sacramento State
Lou Baudouin/Emilija Pranyte, Sacramento State
Honorable Mention must receive at least 3 votes