APRIL 12, 2005
BOB ZIADIE
PORTONOVA, VALONIS NAMED WEEK'S BEST IN MAC
WILKES-BARRE -- King's College men's tennis star
Mike Portonova and softball standout Mari Valonis were both named MAC
Freedom Conference "Player of the Week" in their respective
sports.
In tennis, Portonova went 5-0 in singles and 4-1 in
doubles to finish a combined 9-1 for the week playing in the number-one
spot in all five matches in both doubles and singles. For the week, the
former Bishop Hafey great went 10-0 in sets won-lost.
Portonova improved to 13-0 on the
year and has not dropped a set in 12 straight matches, winning 25
consecutive sets.
Included in the results was a 7-5, 6-1 victory over
2003 MAC singles champion and previously undefeated Hassan Shah (8-1) of
Wilkes. Against Elizabethtown, Portonova handed Thomas Nyst (8-3) just his
third loss of the season with a 6-3, 6-0 triumph.
Valonis, a Mid-Valley High School product, led King’s
softball to a 6-0 week, including a 4-0 mark in conference games. On the
week, she batted .556 (10-18) with two doubles, three triples, two home
runs, and 14 RBI. She also posted a 1.333 slugging percentage.
In her biggest effort of the week, she led King’s
to a sweep of Drew, including a 3-2 final inning comeback in the nightcap.
With Drew holding a 2-0 lead, Valonis drilled a towering, one-out,
255-foot two-run home run over the centerfield fence in the bottom of the
seventh inning to tie the game at 2-2, enabling the Lady Monarchs to pull
out a 3-2 victory.
In the doubleheader against Drew, she was 4-for-4 with a double, triple,
two home runs, and six RBI while drawing three walks. Drew pitchers failed
to record a single out against Valonis in two games.
