Bearcat women’s tennis player Polina Gontaryk talks family in Ukraine, finding home in Maryville
Bearcat women’s tennis sophomore Polina Gontaryk is over 5,300 miles from her hometown of Brovary, Ukraine, but has found her place here in Maryville amid the conflict at home.
Ukraine has been at war with Russia since 2014, and it has since escalated as of Feb. 24, 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine according to the U.S. Department of Defense. Some of Gontaryk’s relatives, including her father, are still in the country.
“I don’t see my dad all the time; I see him like once a year, so it’s just very difficult,” Gontaryk said. “I'm always afraid that something can happen. If he doesn’t pick up the phone the first time, then maybe; I don’t know, maybe someone got in the house and he lies under the crashed house, or if my grandparents don’t answer the phone. It’s a little bit of pressure every day.”
