Women's Tennis | 4/25/2012 12:00:00 AM
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Four singles players and one doubles duo from 2012 MIAA women's tennis regular season and tournament champion Southwest Baptist were named All-MIAA First Team to highlight the all-conference team released Wednesday by the league office. The selections were made by the league's eight head coaches, and coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players.
Southwest Baptist freshman Fanni Varga was the unanimous selection for MIAA Player of the Year and was also voted MIAA Freshman of the Year after a season in which she went 21-1 in singles play (16-1 at No. 1 singles) and 21-3 at No. 1 doubles. The Budapest, Hungary, native was also an All-MIAA First Team selection at No. 1 singles and was a unanimous All-MIAA First Team pick at No. 1 doubles.
Southwest Baptist head coach John Bryant was voted MIAA Coach of the Year for the second time in women's tennis after leading the Bearcats to an unblemished 7-0 conference record (22-2 overall) and the conference regular season and tournament championships.
Truman senior Ellen Russell was voted as the Sportsmanship Award winner.
2012 ALL-MIAA WOMEN'S TENNIS TEAM
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Fanni Varga, Fr., Southwest Baptist
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Fanni Varga, Southwest Baptist
COACH OF THE YEAR
John Bryant, Southwest Baptist
SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
Ellen Russell, Sr., Truman
FIRST TEAM
1S: Fanni Varga, Fr., Southwest Baptist
2S: Mehak Singh, So., Southwest Baptist** [r1]
3S: Adrienn Kovacs, Jr., Southwest Baptist**
4S: Andjela Panovski, So., Southwest Baptist
5S: Stephanie Mannix, Fr., Northwest Misouri
6S: Emily Hoffman, Jr., Northwest Missouri
6S: Alyssa Castillo, Sr., Washburn
1D: Mehak Singh (So.)/Fanni Varga (Fr.), Southwest Baptist**
2D: Morgan Rainey (Sr.)/Whitley Zitsch (Sr.), Washburn
3D: Kim Ho (So.)/Emily Hoffman (Jr.), Northwest Missouri
**Unanimous Selection
[r1] - Repeat first team selection from last season
[Note: Tie in voting created an additional spot at No. 6 singles]
SECOND TEAM
1S: Nicole Jara, So., Emporia State
2S: Brittney Ricci, Fr., Fort Hays State
3S: Alexis Bartek, So., Northwest Missouri
4S: Jamie Blackim, Sr., Washburn
5S: Faiga Schmidt, Jr., Southwest Baptist
6S: Abby Morris, So., Emporia State
1D: Alexis Bartek (So.)/Camila Quesada (So.), Northwest Missouri
2D: Adrienn Kovacs (Jr.)/Faiga Schmidt (Jr.), Southwest Baptist
3D: Crystal Guiot (Sr.)/Andjela Panovski (So.), Southwest Baptist
HONORABLE MENTION
Emporia State: Alex Crowe, Jr., 4S/2D; Somer Schmidt, So., 6S; Nicole Jara, So., 1D; Taylor Smith, Fr., 1D; Jennifer Gerhardt, Fr., 2D.
Fort Hays State: Caitlyn Wark, Fr., 3S; Camille Caron-Bedard, Fr., 2D; Laura Johnson, Jr., 2D.
Northwest Missouri: Camila Quesada, So., 1S; Erika Leston, Sr., 2S/2D; Kim Ho, So., 4S; Leslee Feldhaus, So., 2D.
Southwest Baptist: Crystal Guiot, Sr., 6S.
Truman: Maggi Schutte, Jr., 4S.
Washburn: Sophie O'Neill, So., 2S/3D; Whitley Zitsch, Sr., 3S; Casyn Buchman, Fr., 5S/3D.