Women's Tennis Conference Awards Handed Out
For the second straight season, the top two women’s tennis team in the Sun Conference secured all eight first-team spots on the all-conference list. The postseason awards for the 2018 season were announced at the annual conference tournament banquet, hosted by Coastal Georgia.
Regular season champion, Keiser placed seven of their players on the two all-conference teams. Megane Bianco, Julianna Heino, Daniela Farfan, Aleksandra Grela, and Lorene Foerste were joined by SCAD’s Camile Gbaguidi, Karina Rovira, and Johana Weber.
SCAD-Savannah’s Camille Gbaguidi was named the Player of the Year for the third straight season. The senior posted a second straight unbeaten season, and is top ranked player in the ITA NAIA singles ranking. Gbaguidi concludes her four-year career with a perfect record in Sun Conference matches.
Megane Bianco and Daniela Farfan of Keiser were named the Doubles Team of the Year after posting a 15-3 overall record in the top spot. The duo were unbeaten in Sun Conference play and are currently ranked second in the ITA rankings.
Daniela Farfan of Keiser was named Freshman of the Year after going 15-3 during the spring and 6-1 during conference play out of the first singles spot. She is currently ranked third in the ITA rankings.
Keiser’s Daniel Finn was awarded the Women's Tennis Sun Conference Coach of the Year for the second straight season. Finn led the Seahawks to numerous school records this season including; program record for wins (18), first undefeated record in conference play (7-0), most shutouts (10), longest win streak (14), and first TSC Regular Season Championship. Keiser has been ranked No. 1 in the coaches’ poll for the last two editions and enter the tournament with the No. 1 seed.
St. Thomas’s Cassandra Lemieux was named the Sun Conference Champion of Character. A four-year team captain, she has been a work study student for other sports and coaches. She is first to show up for matches and cheers for her teammates until the last match is over and has played through injuries while never complaining. Casandra has been a mentor for the Boys & Girls Club supporting young girls and becoming a sincere friend and role model. Her latest Servant Leadership effort was packaging relief aid for hurricane Irma victims. She is part of Big Brothers Big Sisters, which for several times a month she mentors 3 young girls. The goal of the organization is to show these children the possibility of overcoming the barriers set by their community and Cassandra does just that. She volunteers at the Marian Center helping children with developmental disabilities. Several times a semester, she helps coordinate and attend visits to a local, needy nursing home. She also has hosted a coffee and conversation diversity event as vice president of the psychology club to bring awareness to current issues: Healthcare, Sexual Assault, Undocumented/Refugees, Black Lives, and Gun Violence/Gun Laws. She has worked with the Women’s Breast and Heart Initiative to inform women on breast and heart health through door-to-door outreach. With this, she offered free mammograms through the organization which provided a mobile mammography bus that came to at-risk neighborhoods. She also assisted with Live Healthy Miami Gardens to interact with children while their parents were administered a survey as part of a study with Live Healthy Miami Gardens. She helped administer activities to children that promoted exercise and the importance of healthy eating and daily activity. She also attends the Report Card Review at Carol City Middle School where she volunteered to review report cards at a local, at-risk public middle school which was a failing school before this event started while also encouraging at-risk youth to stay in school and spoke about the importance of goal-setting. The most recent event she attended was the March for Our Lives rally in Parkland, FL.
A total of 12 players were selected to the Academic All-Conference team. To be eligible, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore with two semesters complete at their institution, and carry a grade point average of 3.5 or better on a 4.0 scale. SCAD-Savannah and Southeastern led the league with three recipients each.
All-Conference
First Team
Camille Gbaguidi, SCAD
Daniela Farfan, KU
Megane Bianco, KU
Aleksandra Grela, KU
Julianna Heino, KU
Karina Rovira, SCAD
Johana Weber, SCAD
Lorene Foreste, KU
Second Team
Emma Henriksen, KU
Julia Albuquerque, SCAD
Samantha Sepe, CCG
Ana Pinto, KU
Victoria Slavina, STU
Andrea Silva, WU
Sonja Wind, CCG
Angelique Myrtil, SEU
Player of the Year
Camille Gbaguidi, SCAD
Doubles Team of the Year
Megane Bianco/Daniela Farfan, KU
Freshman of the Year
Daniela Farfan, KU
Coach of the Year
Daniel Finn, KU
Champion of Character
Cassandra Lemieux, STU
Academic All-Conference
Lorene Foerste, KU
Julianna Heino, KU
Camille Gbaguidi, SCAD
Julia Albuquerque, SCAD
Johanna Weber, SCAD
Nicole Backherms, SEU
Sharienne Ricardo, SEU
Sydni Brookhouser, SEU
Ingrid Kasabkojian, CCG
Madeline Garner, CCG
Naomi Maehama, STU
Luiza Arroyo Prado, WU