Big South Announces 2019 Women's Tennis Annual Award Winners
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) -- Winthrop senior Lauren Proctor has been voted the 2019 Big South Women’s Tennis Player of the Year by the league’s head coaches, it was announced Monday afternoon. Eagles’ head coach Cid Carvalho was voted Coach of the Year and UNC Asheville’s Lize Alet Morkel was selected Freshman of the Year by the group. Presbyterian College junior Katie Thompson was voted Women’s Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the Big South’s sports information directors.
Proctor (Bradenton, Fla.) is now just the fifth student-athlete in Big South Conference history to be voted Player of the Year all four years, and is the second women’s tennis player with this distinction. She posted a 24-7 overall record in 2018-19, with a 17-2 mark during the spring at No. 1 singles. Currently the nation’s No. 51-ranked player, Proctor won all nine of her Big South matches in straight-sets -- including five at 6-0. She defeated two nationally-ranked opponents during the spring, and also won two matches in the Oracle ITA Masters Tournament in the fall. She again teamed with Megan Kauffman at No. 1 doubles this season, and the nationally-ranked duo has compiled a 20-9 overall record (14-5 in the spring) with wins over doubles tandems ranked No. 1 (Arizona State), 9th (N.C. State), 56th (Syracuse) and 75th (Oklahoma) in 2018-19. Proctor earned First-Team All-Conference honors in Singles and Doubles, the fourth time in her career with this achievement. She received nine possible first-place votes for 27 points for the Player of the Year voting. Morkel was second to Proctor with 18 points and collected the remaining first-place vote, followed by Charleston Southern’s Madaline Man with 10 points.
Carvalho earns his second consecutive Big South Coach of the Year honor and record 11th overall after leading Winthrop to the outright Big South regular-season championship with a perfect 9-0 record. It was the most league wins since 2014, as well as Carvalho’s 17th undefeated Big South season. The Eagles’ posted three 7-0 match victories, in addition to five 6-1 triumphs. Winthrop went a combined 77-42 in singles matches and 32-16 in doubles action, and Carvalho’s squad had four players with 10+ singles wins this spring. He received seven first-place votes and 23 points, ahead of Gardner-Webb head coach Jim Corn (two first-place votes and 17 points) and Presbyterian’s Steve Brooks (one first-place vote and 12 points) for the coaching honor.
Morkel (Western Cape, South Africa) is the first UNC Asheville player to be voted Women’s Tennis Freshman of the Year. She competed at No. 1 singles and posted a 13-2 overall mark and 7-2 record in Big South matches. Her 13 wins were the second-most among all No. 1 singles players in the conference, as were her seven league victories on the number one court. She won her first seven spring matches, while seven of her 13 wins were in straight-sets. A two-time Big South Freshman of the Week honoree (Feb. 6 and April 10), as well as a two-time Player of the Week selection (Jan. 23 and March 20), Morkel also had 11 doubles victories in her first collegiate season. She received eight first-place votes and 24 points, ahead of Radford’s Malin Falk (one first-place vote and 10 points).
Thompson (Lexington, S.C.) is a 4.0 student majoring in Early Childhood Education, and she concluded the regular-season a combined 26-6 in singles and doubles play. She went 14-2 overall in doubles -- including 12-1 with Beth Taylor (7-0 in conference) to earn All-Conference accolades.
2019 Big South Conference Women’s Tennis Award Winners
First Team All-Conference Singles
Lauren Proctor, Sr., Winthrop
Lize Alet Morkel, Fr., UNC Asheville
Alisa Soloveva, Jr., Winthrop
Madalina Man, Soph., Charleston Southern
Anastasia Belyaeva, Jr., Radford
Filippa Ericson, Sr., Charleston Southern
Rafaela Santos, Soph., Winthrop
Ana Castillo, Soph., Campbell
First Team All-Conference Doubles
Lauren Proctor/Megan Kauffman, Winthrop
Ana Castillo/Lou Regen, Campbell
Sydney Patton/Tracy Johnson, Presbyterian
Ellie Burns/Tayla Van Eck, Winthrop
Second Team All-Conference Singles
Sydney Patton, Sr., Presbyterian
Lou Regen, Jr., Campbell
Drousile Dzeubou, Jr., Radford
Victoria Saldh, Fr., USC Upstate
Miljana Ristic, Jr., Gardner-Webb
Beth Taylor, Jr., Presbyterian
Ellie Burns, Sr., Winthrop
Malin Falk, Fr., Radford
Second Team All-Conference Doubles
Rafaela Santos/Alisa Soloveva, Winthrop
Katie Thompson/Beth Taylor, Presbyterian
Miljana Ristic/Daniela Naupari, Gardner-Webb
Lize Alet Morkel/Taylor Love, UNC Asheville
All-Academic Team
Lou Regen, Jr., Campbell
Filippa Ericson, Sr., Charleston Southern
Valentine Limauge, Soph., Gardner-Webb
Cherise Slocombe, Sr., Hampton
Marija Venta, Jr., Longwood
Katie Thompson, Jr., Presbyterian College
Tyler Blalock, Jr., Radford
Emily Sidor, Jr., UNC Asheville
Vale Zarama, Sr., USC Upstate
Megan Kauffman, Sr., Winthrop
Player of the Year
Lauren Proctor, Sr., Winthrop
Freshman of the Year
Lize Alet Morkel, UNC Asheville
Coach of the Year
Cid Carvalho, Winthrop
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Katie Thompson, Jr., Presbyterian College