When Russian forces invaded her native Ukraine more than a month ago, University of Texas-Permian Basin (UTPB) tennis player Viktoriaa Sholudko was taken aback just like her compatriots back home and around the world.
Sholudko told Odessa CBS affiliate KOSA that she still has family in Lviv, the Slavic republic's sixth largest city, while her sister successfully fled to neighboring Poland.
“I was a little bit shocked," she said, according to the station. "I didn’t expect it to happen. I was scared of course. I started calling on my parents, checking on them.”
Sholudko said her loved ones are safe and accounted for. To keep her mind off things, she focuses on her studies and athletics.
UTPB men’s and women’s head tennis coach Stanley Anderson told KOSA that he admires how Sholudko carries herself despite the turmoil more than 5,000 miles away.
“She’s coming to practice, she’s getting straight A’s, she’s working on campus, she’s doing everything you could possibly ask of her," Anderson said, according to the station. "I don’t know if some of it is a distraction to get away from things."
Sholudko also gets support from her teammates, KOSA reported.
“My team is supporting me all the time asking me how am I doing, how is my family. Also, coaches help me,” she told the station.
Anderson said that he met with the program's captains and senior-level players, instructing them to touch base with Sholudko daily.
KOSA reported that Sholudko isn't the only Ukrainian on the roster.
UTPB received a letter of intent from 16-year-old Kyiv native Vitalily Horovoy.
Anderson said the future Falcon escaped to Serbia where he's currently training.
"The first thing he did was get his players card so he could start playing in tournaments in Serbia and training at an academy," the coach told the station. "He’s really looking forward to coming."