All-Conference First Team
Schmaus, Valor Highlight Women’s Tennis All-Conference Team
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The SCAD Savannah women’s tennis team took home Coach of the Year and Player of the Year honors according the All-Conference honor roll, which was announced at The Sun Conference tournament banquet, Thursday at the Sunset Harbor Yacht Club. Thirteen individuals representing five schools were named to the All-Conference roster with seven appearing on the first team and six claiming second team honors.
Reinaldo Valor garnered Coach of the Year honors after leading SCAD Savannah to the regular season title with an unbeaten 7-0 record. Valor took over as the head coach of the Lady Bees program at the beginning of the spring and brings his team into this week’s tournament with a 10-2 overall record and a No. 4 ranking in the NAIA National Coaches’ poll.
SCAD junior Theresa Schmaus (Moerbach, Germany) was selected as the league’s Player of the Year after posting an 11-1 record in singles play. Ranked seventh in the latest ITA/NAIA national singles poll, she was a perfect 5-0 in conference singles matches, playing at the top spot in the Bees’ singles lineup. In the fall, Schmaus partnered with Maja Plavsic to capture the ITA/NAIA National Doubles crown. In the spring, Schmaus, who is also an Academic All-Conference honoree, and Daniella Arcila teamed up for a 5-2 doubles ledger and the duo enters postseason play ranked second in the nation.
The Champions of Character Award was presented to Southeastern junior Wendy Reade. Described by SEU Head Coach Bill May as “a person of exceptional character”, Reade was voted team captain by her teammates and has provided tremendous support to her teammates both on and off the court. The Jacksonville, Fla. native has been actively involved in many aspects of community service and outreach, including going overseas on a missions outreach project and participating in a community revitalization project at a local middle school. Reade also excels in the classroom and her 3.93 grade point average in Finance afforded her Academic All-Conference honors as well.
Doubles Team of the Year honors went to the Ave Maria tandem of Heather Esker and Mary Kate Lee. The duo earned a 4-2 record in conference play notching wins against three ranked opponents in No. 2 Schmaus and Arcila of SCAD, No. 4 Tetiana Kovalska and Gabriella Bongiovanni of St. Thomas, and No. 6 Hui-I Huang and Kristina Marova of Embry-Riddle.
Academic All-Conference awards were also handed out on Thursday. To qualify for Academic All-Conference honors, a student-athlete must have completed at least two full semesters at the nominating institution and carry a 3.5 or better cumulative grade point average. Thirteen individuals were presented with the award, led by Embry-Riddle junior Elise Lagerstrom who has a 4.0 GPA in Human Factors Psychology.
Play in the 2013 Sun Conference tournament begins at 9 a.m. on Friday when No. 4 seed St. Thomas and No. 5 Ave Maria do battle in the first quarterfinal, with the winner advancing to play top-seed SCAD in the semis. The second quarterfinal between No 3 Northwood and No. 6 St. Thomas gets underway at 11:30 a.m. with the winner of that match facing second-seeded Embry-Riddle on Saturday.
The tournament is being hosted by Embry-Riddle at the Crotty Tennis complex and the tournament champion will receive an automatic bid to the NAIA National Championship in Mobile, Ala., May 14-18.
Coach of the Year
Reinaldo Valor, SCAD Savannah
Player of the Year
Theresa Schmaus, SCAD Savannah
Doubles Team of the Year
Heather Esker/Mary Kate Lee, Ave Maria
Champions of Character Award
Wendy Reade, Southeastern
All-Conference Team
|
|
Overall Record |
Conference Record |
|
First Team |
Singles |
Doubles |
Singles |
Doubles |
|
Maria Barragan, SCAD Savannah |
5-3 |
10-1 |
3-1 |
6-1 |
|
Hui-I Huang, Embry-Riddle |
14-11 |
15-10 |
5-2 |
4-3 |
|
Tetiana Kovalska, St. Thomas |
9-4 |
|
5-1 |
|
|
Kristina Marova, Embry-Riddle |
14-10 |
15-10 |
5-1 |
4-3 |
|
Paola Montero, Embry-Riddle |
9-5 |
10-7 |
5-0 |
6-1 |
|
Theresa Schmaus, SCAD Savannah |
11-0 |
9-3 |
7-0 |
6-1 |
|
Justyna Wojcik, Northwood |
8-6 |
|
5-2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Second Team |
|
|
|
|
|
Sadia Mayou, Southeastern |
11-6 |
8-10 |
2-5 |
1-6 |
|
Laura Nowak, Webber International |
12-7 |
12-7 |
4-3 |
4-3 |
|
Maja Plavsic, SCAD Savannah |
1-4 |
4-1 |
0-2 |
2-0 |
|
Valentina Souki, Northwood |
7-6 |
10-3 |
5-2 |
6-1 |
|
Julija Stojkovska, Webber International |
10-9 |
12-7 |
2-5 |
4-3 |
|
Adelaide Wood, Northwood |
13-1 |
7-7 |
6-1 |
5-2 |
Academic All-Conference
Julia Sadusky, Ave Maria
Heather Esker, Ave Maria
Elise Lagerstrom, Embry-Riddle
Kristina Marova, Embry-Riddle
Theresa Schmaus, SCAD Savannah
Carolina Viteri, SCAD Savannah
Maria Barragan, SCAD Savannah
Raimey Carlton, Southeastern
Stephanie Dodd, Southeastern
Wendy Reade, Southeastern
Ashley Ahern, St. Thomas
Holly Parnell, Webber International
Laura Nowak, Webber International