Sotnikova named SLC women's tennis "Student Athlete-of-Year"
5/27/2009 10:45:00 AM | Women's Tennis
FRISCO, Texas ? Sam Houston State senior Irina Sotnikova has been named the 2009 Capital One Bank/Southland Conference Women's Tennis Student-Athlete of the Year, the league office announced Wednesday in conjunction with the release of the All-Academic Women's Tennis Teams.
Sotnikova, who was also named the 2009 Southland Conference Women's Tennis Player of the Year, carried a 3.83 grade-point average (GPA) in finance in her final season with the Bearkats. She also was a first team Academic All-Southland honoree.
Paty Manzur, a senior from Tampico, Tamaulipas in Mexico who played number four singles and two doubles for the Bearkats this season, was a second team Academic All-Southland selection.
Sotnikova and Manzur led the Sam Houston women's tennis team to an 11-8 record this season and the squad's fifth consecutive Southland Conference post-season playoff appearance.
A two-time first-team and three-time overall Southland All-Academic selection, Sotnikova was named to the 2008-09 CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine All-District VI At Large second team, earned recognition as a Sam Houston State President's Scholar and was previously honored with her inclusion to the Southland Conference Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll.
In addition to her many accomplishments in the classroom, the Riga, Latvia, native put up strong numbers on the tennis court. The three-time All-Southland Conference selection finished her career as the Bearkats' all-time leader in victories in both singles and doubles action, which includes a combined singles and doubles record of 54-4 in 2008-09. Sotnikova completed her Sam Houston State career with a four-year singles record of 88-23 and a doubles mark of 97-21 to rank her as the Bearkats' all-time winningest tennis player.
Manzur, a three-year Sam Houston letter-winner, boasts a perfect 4.00 grade point average as a psychology major. Manzur produced a 17-13 season record in singles in 2009 and was 14-7 with all partners in doubles.
Along with Lamar senior Maria Gutierrez, UTSA junior Holly Phillips and senior Karen Scida and Stephen F. Austin senior Gabriela Gadeva, Sotnikova is one of five student-athletes who are receiving at least a second selection to the Southland All-Academic Team.
The all-academic teams are voted on by the head coaches, sports information directors and academic/compliance administrators from each Southland university. Student-athletes must possess a 3.0 cumulative GPA, have completed one full academic year at the nominating institution and participated in at least 50 percent of the team's competition to qualify for the all-academic squad. Student-athletes earn automatic qualification onto the Southland Conference All-Academic Team if they maintain a GPA of 3.0 and were also named first-team All-Southland Conference and/or the CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine All-Academic District VI At Large team.
2009 Southland Conference Women's Tennis All- Academic Team
|
First Team |
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Name |
School |
Class |
Hometown |
GPA |
Major |
|
Sam Houston State |
Sr. |
Riga, Latvia |
3.83 |
Finance | |
|
Maria Gutierrez |
Lamar |
Sr. |
San Antonio, Venezuela |
3.92 |
Civil Engineering |
|
Kathrin Lange |
Northwestern State |
So. |
Emmingen, Germany |
3.94 |
Business Administration |
|
Holly Phillips |
UTSA |
Jr. |
Rochester, N.Y. |
3.95 |
Biology |
|
Bianca Schulz |
Northwestern State |
So. |
Wiesenstiasse, Germany |
3.94 |
Hospitality and Tourism Mgmt. |
|
Nathalie Wallin |
UTSA |
Sr. |
Stockholm, Sweden |
3.41 |
Marketing |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Second Team |
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|
|
|
|
|
Name |
School |
Class |
Hometown |
GPA |
Major |
|
Adna Curukovic |
Northwestern State |
So. |
Zenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina |
3.83 |
Biology |
|
Ashley Ellis |
Texas St-San Marcos |
Sr. |
Amarillo, Texas |
3.79 |
History and Political Science |
|
Gabriela Gadeva |
Stephen F. Austin |
Sr. |
Sofia, Bulgaria |
3.97 |
Hospitality Administration |
|
Klara Jagosova |
UT Arlington |
Jr. |
Prerov, Czech Republic |
3.70 |
International Business |
|
Paty Manzur |
Sam Houston State |
Sr. |
Tampico, Tamulipas, Mexico |
4.00 |
Psychology |
|
Karen Scida |
UTSA |
Sr. |
Tucuman, Argentina |
3.86 |
Chemistry |
