April 24, 2008

CLEVELAND-Three Miami University women's tennis players earned Mid-American Conference postseason honors, which were announced on Thursday evening at the MAC Tournament Banquet.

Freshman Anastasia Dracheva (Moscow, Russia/1862 High School) and sophomore Brintney Larson (Peachtree City, Ga./Heritage Academy, NY) were named to the All-MAC First Team. Dracheva was tabbed the Co-Freshman of the Year, while senior Kelly Douple (Dayton, Ohio/Centerville) was one of three players to earn the Leann Grimes Davidge Sportsmanship Award.

Dracheva amassed an 11-3 record during the regular season, all coming at No. 1 singles, and posted a 4-3 Mid-American Conference mark for the RedHawks. She was twice named MAC Player of the Week, earning the honor on Jan. 30 and Apr. 3. She becomes just the third player in program history and the first player since Natalia Soetrisno in 1996 to capture Freshman of the Year honors. She shares the award with Buffalo's Diana Popescu.

Larson, in her first season as a RedHawk, compiled a 13-6 record between No. 1 and No. 2 singles and amassed a stellar 7-1 league singles mark. It is the first time since 2006 that Miami has had two players on the All-MAC teams when Katrina Lomidze and Leda Pesatova earned first and second-team All-MAC honors, respectively. Larson and Dracheva were two of the six-member All-MAC First-Team, the most first-team selections for any league school.

Douple becomes just the third player in program history to earn the Leann Grimes Davidge Sportsmanship Award and the first since Betsy Keane in 1991. Douple went undefeated in Mid-American Conference singles play, posting a perfect 8-0 record in league action. She amassed a 14-5 singles record on the season between No. 4 and No. 5 singles. The award, in honor of the former Miami University women's tennis coach who tragically lost her life in an automobile accident in 1985, is shared by Douple, Akron's Tanyaradzwa Gombera, and Western Michigan's Noriko Saruta.

Miami finished its regular season with a 7-1 MAC record and enters the MAC Tournament in Buffalo, N.Y., as the No. 2 seed with a 13-6 overall record. Miami compiled eight 7-0 wins this season, the most by a Miami team since going to the seven-point scoring system. The RedHawks face No. 7 seed Ball State at 2 p.m. on Friday, April 25 in the tournament quarterfinals.

2008 All-MAC Women's Tennis Awards
First Team
Kerstin Pahl, Western Michigan
Anastasia Dracheva, Miami
Vanessa Frankowski, Eastern Michigan
Andreea Novaceanu, Buffalo
Brintney Larson, Miami
Kelsey Jakupcin, Bowling Green

Second Team
Martina Wodzinski, Toledo
Priyanka Parekh, Western Michigan
Denise Harijanto, Buffalo
Christine Chiricosta, Bowling Green
Noriko Saruta, Western Michigan
Tanyaradzwa Gombera, Akron

Player of the Year
Kerstin Pahl, Western Michigan

Freshman of the Year (tie)
Diana Popescu, Buffalo
Anastasia Dracheva, Miami

Coach of the Year
Betsy Kuhle, Western Michigan

Leann Grimes Sportsmanship Award (tie)
Tanyaradzwa Gombera, Akron
Kelly Douple, Miami
Noriko Saruta, Western Michigan