Women's Tennis Racks Up Postseason Awards

April 19, 2007

Greenville, S.C. - Seven members of the Furman women's tennis team and its coach were recognized by the Southern Conference for their outstanding performance this season. Sophomore Laura Gioia was named Co-Player of the Year and head coach Debbie Southern was honored as Coach of the Year for the 11th time. Senior Jacqueline Eckert also earned the Sportsmanship Award for her respectful and gracious demeanor on the court. Furman (13-9, 9-0) posted an undefeated conference record for the eighth consecutive season, extending its regular-season SoCon winning streak to 79 straight matches.

Gioia finished the league season with undefeated singles and doubles records at the top position. She earned first-team all-conference honors in both singles and doubles for the second consecutive year, tallying an overall record of 19-3 in singles and 16-6 in doubles. Currently ranked 92nd nationally by the FILA Collegiate Tennis Rankings, Gioia played the toughest slate of any Lady Paladin and defeated ranked opponents from Clemson and Chattanooga. She was honored as SoCon Player of the Week three times, TIAA-CREF Student Athlete of the Week twice and earned league Player of the Month in February. A Lady Paladin has now earned SoCon Player of the Year honors for eight consecutive seasons.

Junior Natasa Manojlovic earned All-SoCon first-team honors in doubles and second-team honors in singles. Manojlovic teamed with Gioia for an undefeated SoCon mark at flight one doubles as well as posted an 8-0 singles tally. Seniors Bonnie Baird and Eckert and junior Lauren Osborne were also named to the All-SoCon second team for singles. All three went undefeated in conference action and Osborne has yet to lose a SoCon singles match in her three-year career. Two of Furman's doubles tandems earned positions on the doubles second team. Eckert and Osborne posted an 8-0 mark at number two, while senior Lisa Bornt-Davis and sophomore Lauren Tomory were 7-0 at flight three.

Eckert became the Lady Paladins' first SoCon Sportsmanship Award winner since the 1999-00 season when Emelie Isaksson was chosen. Eckert has been a rock on the women's tennis team for four years as she helped the Lady Paladins to four straight regular-season titles and three consecutive tournament crowns. While Eckert has been part of the team, Furman has never lost a match to a league opponent. In her final season Eckert went 9-0 in SoCon singles and 8-1 in league doubles matches.

Head coach Debbie Southern once again produced an outstanding Furman team, leading the Lady Paladins to a 15th SoCon regular-season championship. Southern was recognized by her peers as Coach of the Year for the fifth consecutive year and 11th time overall. Southern has compiled a 158-11 (.935) career mark in the league and is the winningest women's tennis coach in Furman history (342 victories).

The conference also announced the March Athletes of the Month today. Gioia garnered yet another honor, earning recognition as the top women's tennis performer last month. She posted a 6-0 record against league opponents in March, including a win over 46th-ranked Anastasia Zhukova of Chattanooga. Gioia was 10-1 overall at the number one spot, falling only to No. 18 Wake Forest's Alexandra Hirsch.

The top-seeded Lady Paladins will challenge No. 8 Appalachian State tomorrow morning in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference Tournament. The match is slated to begin at 8:30 a.m., at The Earle Tennis Center on the campus of The Citadel. Furman is looking for its fourth consecutive tournament title.

First-Team All-Southern Conference
Singles
Chelsea Albertz, College of Charleston
Anastasia Zhukova, Chattanooga
Kelsey Linville, Davidson
Deanna Bailey, Elon
Laura Gioia, Furman
Arielle VonStrolley, UNC Greensboro

Doubles
Anastasia Zhukova/Lindsey Ballard, Chattanooga
Laura Gioia/Nastasa Manojlovic, Furman
Arielle VonStrolley/Erica Zabkar, UNC Greensboro

Second-Team All-Southern Conference
Singles
#1 Merry Ellen Henry, Wofford
#2 Lauren Osborne, Furman
#3 Bonnie Baird, Furman
#4 Jaqueline Eckert, Furman
#5 Holly Dowse, College of Charleston
#6 Natasa Manojlovic, Furman

Doubles
#1 Holly Dowse/Anna Lee Evans, College of Charleston
#2 Jaqueline Eckert/Lauren Osborne, Furman
#3 Lisa Bornt-Davis/Lauren Tomory, Furman

Coach of the Year: Debbie Southern, Furman
Freshman of the Year: Deanna Bailey, Elon
Co-Player of the Year: Laura Gioia, Furman and Anastasia Zhukova, Chattanooga
Sportsmanship Award: Jacqueline Eckert, Furman and Suzanna Sjokvist, Western Carolina