May 20, 2008
TULSA, Okla. - The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) announced the national award winners for NCAA Division I tennis Tuesday during a ceremony at the University of Tulsa's Allan Chapman Activity Center and Baylor's Lars Poerschke was named this year's winner of the Arthur Ashe Jr. Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship.
This year's ITA national award winners are:
Men's Tennis
Wilson/ITA National Coach of the Year - Brian Boland, Virginia
ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year - Ricardo Rubio, Texas
ITA/Farnsworth National Senior Player of the Year - Somdev Devvarman, Virginia
ITA National Rookie of the Year - Alex Clayton, Stanford
ITA National Player to Watch - Oleksandr Nedovyesov, Oklahoma State
ITA/Rafael Osuna Sportsmanship Award - Kaes Van't Hof, Southern California
ITA/Arthur Ashe Jr. Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship - Lars Poerschke, Baylor
ITA/John Van Nostrand Memorial Award - Greg Ouelette, Florida
Women's Tennis
Wilson/ITA National Coach of the Year - Claire Pollard, Northwestern
ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year - Dave Mullins, Northwestern (At-Large selection)
ITA National Senior Player of the Year - Riza Zalameda, UCLA
ITA National Rookie of the Year - Hilary Barte, Stanford
ITA National Player to Watch - Maria Mosolova, Northwestern
ITA /Cissie Leary Award for Sportsmanship - (co-winners) Olya Batsula, East Tennessee State and Dunja Antunovic, DePaul
ITA/Arthur Ashe Jr. Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship - Kristi Miller, Georgia Tech
In her 10th season at the helm of Northwestern's women's tennis program, Pollard had her best-ever season, leading the Wildcats to a 28-1 record, and the program's first-ever No. 1 ranking. Northwestern's sole loss this season came at the hands of defending national champions, Georgia Tech, 4-2 in the National Team Indoor Championship match. The Wildcats, who are also coached by the ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year Dave Mullins, won a conference-record tenth-consecutive Big Ten championship this year, and Pollard has not lost a Big Ten match in her last 63 attempts.
Boland, the men's ITA National Coach of the Year, led Virginia to the best season in school history. The Cavaliers went 32-0, including a school-record 28-match winning streak, before losing in the Final Four to defending national champions Georgia, 4-3. Virginia also became the first ACC tennis team ever to win a national team title this year, as UVA captured the 2008 ITA National Team Indoor Championship in February. The Cavaliers held on to the No. 1 national ranking every week this season, as well as the No. 1 singles ranking (Senior Somdev Devvarman) and the No. 1 doubles ranking (Devvarman and senior Treat Huey).
Rubio, the ITA National Men's Assistant Coach of the Year, helped Texas and head coach Michael Center reach their first-ever NCAA team championship match. The Longhorns went 25-5 this year, and had several major upsets at the NCAA tournament, including a 4-2 upset over No. 2 seed Ohio State in the round of eight, and a 4-2 upset win over No. 3 UCLA in last night's semifinals.
Virginia's Devvarman, the Farnsworth/ITA National Senior Player of the Year, is ranked No. 1 in the nation in singles and doubles and guided UVA to the NCAA's Final Four. The senior captain will be looking to defend his 2007 NCAA singles championship this week, and add a doubles title to his resume, with partner Treat Huey. UCLA's Zalameda, the women's Senior Player of the Year is No. 8 and 1 in the ITA singles and doubles rankings respectively. She won her first-ever Pac-10 singles championship earlier this year, and has led the Bruins to today's NCAA Team Championship match.
Stanford swept the Rookie of the Year Awards, with Clayton and Barte taking the men's and women's awards respectively. Clayton is ranked No. 7 in the nation in singles, and has compiled a 26-8 record thus far. Barte is currently the No. 3-ranked singles player in the country, sporting an overall record of 28-6 and dual match mark of 21-3. She is also ranked at No. 9 in the country in doubles, with partner Lindsay Burdette.
The ITA National Player to Watch award goes to a player who has not yet won an ITA national singles title, but is expected to perform at a high level the rest of their careers and contend for national titles. In her first season as a Wildcat, Mosolova has stepped into the No. 1 singles role and dominated, going undefeated in Big Ten play and posting a team-best 37-4 overall record. Oklahoma State's Nedovyesov captured the Big 12 title at No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles, on his way to being named the conference's player of the year. The sophomore is currently the third-ranked player in the country, and 24-6 in dual matches.
Five players received prestigious sportsmanship awards. The ITA/Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship goes to a player who has exhibited outstanding sportsmanship and leadership as well as scholastic, extracurricular and tennis achievements. Georgia Tech's Kristi Miller won the women's award, while Baylor's Lars Poerschke was honored on the men's side.
DePaul's Antunovic and ETSU's Batsula were co-winners of the ITA/Cissie Leary Award for Sportsmanship, which goes to a women's player who displays inspiring dedication and commitment to her team, which has enhanced her team's performance and exemplified the spirit of college tennis. Southern California's Van't Hof received the Osuna Award, which goes to a men's player who displays sportsmanship, character, and excellent academics, as well as having had outstanding tennis playing accomplishments.
Florida's Ouelette received the ITA/John Van Nostrand Memorial Award, which awards a stipend to an outstanding senior men's player who plans to pursue a professional tennis career upon graduation.
As the governing body of collegiate tennis the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) promotes both the athletic and academic achievements of the collegiate tennis community. The ITA, which was founded in 1956 and is based in Skillman, N.J., administers numerous regional and national championships, the ITA Collegiate Summer Circuit presented by the USTA, and the Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings for Men's and Women's tennis at the NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and Junior College levels. The ITA also has a comprehensive awards program for players and coaches to honor excellence in academics, leadership and sportsmanship.
