Marta Burak
Tennis
2014-15
Senior Marta Burak is the first Youngstown State tennis student-athlete to be recognized as a YSU/The Vindicator Athlete of the Year. She is the female recipient of the award for 2014-15
Burak has had a major impact on the turnaround of the YSU program. Her first year the Guins won one dual match. This season, the Penguins have won a school-record 17 matches and took home both the regular season and postseason conference crowns. One of the most well-liked student-athletes by her peers, she also received the 2014-15 SAAC Leadership Award.
This year she was named the Horizon League’s Player of the Year to culminate a tremendous career. She was a four-time first-team all-league honoree, won all but one regular-season and postseason Horizon League match in her four-year career, has nearly 100 singles wins and guided the Guins to the 2015 and 2014 HL Tournament titles and 2015 regular-season title. In 40 HL matches, she has lost just five out of 74 sets played, and three of those were her freshman year. Overall she has a career mark of 94-31 in singles and has won 78 doubles matches.
Burak came to YSU when she was just 15 years old in the fall of 2011. Undaunted she was named the Horizon League’s Newcomer of the Year after posting a 7-1 singles record at the No. 1 spot in the lineup. For the year was 19-9 in singles matches and in her first spring she was 13-5 in dual competition. Her 19 wins were then the second-most by a freshman in school history. In doubles play, she picked up 11 more victories.
As a sophomore in 2012-13, Burak set a school single-season record with 28 singles wins and added an impressive 20 more victories in doubles. Overall, she was an outstanding 28-3 and ended the year by winning her final 15 matches. Burak went 7-0 in conference play and won two more matches in the postseason. The Penguins reached the HL finals for the second time in school history with her dominating at the No. 3 spot.
As a junior last year, the Penguins won the school’s first conference title in the sport winning three matches at the league tournament. YSU beat Wright State, Milwaukee and Cleveland State to advance to the NCAA Regionals for the first time. Burak led the way with a team-high 26 wins and was 20-5 during the dual season in the spring. She won her final 13 matches of the season, including eight regular-season league tilts and three in the postseason. In the NCAA Tournament she was paired against Virginia’s Danielle Collins who eventually went on to win the NCAA singles title. Burak played a highly competitive match against Collins and trailed just 2-1 in the second set of their match when the Cavaliers clinched the match.
This year, Burak has continued her strong play as the program claimed the regular season and postseason conference titles. She owns a 18-2 record with one loss because of an injury default as YSU returns to the NCAA Regionals. Since a midseason injury, she has come back strong winning her last 10 matches, including nine against HL foes. On Saturday she cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 1 against Detroit in the Championship dual. On the season, she has 21 singles wins and 16 more in doubles play.
A native of Lviv, Ukraine, she is the recipient of the Sigma Club Scholarship. Burak carries a 3.67 GPA as a Biology major. She is the daughter of Orysya and Yuriy Burak.
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