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MWC Tennis Standouts Net Honors
MWC earns three of only eight national ITA/Arthur Ashe Awards for Leadership & Sportsmanship
May 18, 2006 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - New Mexico senior Maja Kovacek, San Diego State senior Dita Hauerlandova and TCU senior Gloriann Lopez have earned the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) Arthur Ashe Sportsmanship & Leadership awards. Kovacek, Hauerlandova and Lopez are three of only eight women's tennis players in the country to earn the prestigious honor. The ITA/Arthur Ashe Award goes to a player who has exhibited outstanding sportsmanship and leadership as well as scholastic, extracurricular and tennis achievements. Kovacek, from Pula, Croatia, is currently No. 31 in the polls and posted a 23-13 record in singles play. Hauerlandova, from Prague, Czech Republic, finished the 2006 regular season with an 18-16 overall singles record and is currently No. 69 in the latest rankings. Lopez, a team captain from The Woodlands, Texas, finished the regular season with a record of 16-3 for the Horned Frogs. ITA/Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership & Sportsmanship
Additional Honors Currently 28th in the singles rankings, TCU's Helena Besovic was named Southwest Region ITA Senior Player of the Year for her efforts during the 2006 campaign. Hailing from Sarajevo, Bosnia, Besovic posted a record of 30-7 in singles play and helped the Frogs to the 2006 MWC regular season and tournament titles. Teammate and MWC Freshman of the Year Anna Sydorska added another all-freshman plaudit to her resume by receiving the ITA Rookie of the Year award. A native of Lviv, Ukraine, Sydorska posted a 24-7 singles record this season. BYU senior Olga Boulytcheva was named Central Region 2006 ITA Senior Player of the Year. Boulytcheva, of Moscow, Russia, finished the season with a 15-8 singles record and earned an invitation to compete in the NCAA Division I Women's Singles Championships. Gantcheva will join Kovacek and Besovic, as well as Iva Gersic (New Mexico), Ana Cetnik (TCU) and Nicole Leimbach (TCU) at Stanford for the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships on May 23-28 at the Taube Tennis Center. Boulytcheva, ranked No. 24, withdrew from NCAA Championship competition due to injury. Air Force women's tennis player Kat Bushey is the recipient of the 2006 Cissie Leary Sportsmanship Award for the Central Region, presented by the ITA. The award is presented to the individual who has demonstrated inspiring commitment and dedication to her team, which has enhanced her team's performance and exemplified the spirit of college tennis. Bushey was selected from the region's 32 teams and is one of eight finalists for the national sportsmanship award, which will be announced on Monday, May 22. The senior from Wilmington, Del., played No. 1 singles and doubles for the Falcons her final two years at Air Force. Air Force's Shannon Buck was named recipient of the 2006 Farnsworth/ITA Senior Player of the Year Award for the Mountain Region. The award is presented to the individual who has contributed the most to his team in the following areas; leadership, sportsmanship, tennis performance and tennis improvement during his collegiate career. Buck was selected from the region's 24 teams and will join the other seven regional winners and at-large players as finalists for the national award, which will be announced on Monday, May 22. The senior from Spokane, Wash., established himself as the best player in Air Force history during his four years at the Academy and is a two-time Mountain West Conference Player of the Year. New Mexico's Johnny Parkes earned ITA Rookie of the Year honors for the Mountain Region. A native of Churchtown, Merseyside, England, Parkes was named MWC Freshman of the Year after posting an impressive 22-13 record in his first season. His 22 wins were the most by any freshman in the MWC.
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