October 28, 2008

NEWMAC Announces 2008 Women’s Tennis Post-Season Award Winners

BABSON PARK, Mass. - The New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) announced its 2008 Women's Tennis post-season awards on Tuesday. Regular season and tournament champion Wellesley College led the way with five First Team selections, along with the Rookie of the Year, Marie Watanabe (Houston, Texas). MIT junior Leslie Hansen (Fairfax, Va.) was named Athlete of the Year and her coach, Carol Matsuzaki received Coach of the Year honors. MIT also received the league's Sportsmanship Award.

After capturing the NEWMAC tournament championship on Sunday, Wellesley had five selections to the First Team All-Conference. They were Shivani Saxena (Milan, ITALY) at No. 3 singles, Nathalie Herman (San Francisco, Calif.) at No. 5 singles and Grace Cheng (Columbia, Md.) at No. 6 singles. Cheng and Watanabe earned First Team accolades at No. 2 doubles while Saxena and Jacqueline Shen (Calgary, Alberta, CANADA) were honored at No. 3 doubles.

In addition to earning Athlete of the Year honors, Hansen was also named to the First Team All-Conference at the No. 1 singles position. Joining her were teammates Anastasia Vishnevetsky (Orange, Conn.) at No. 2 singles and Yi Wang (Woodinville, Wash.) at No. 4 singles. Hansen and Vishnevetsky were named to the First Team at No. 1 doubles as well.

2008 Women's Tennis All-Conference Team and Award Winners

NEWMAC Athlete of the Year:
Leslie Hansen, MIT

NEWMAC Rookie of the Year:
Marie Watanabe, Wellesley

NEWMAC Coach of the Year:
Carol Matsuzaki, MIT

NEWMAC Sportsmanship Award:
MIT

First Team
#1 Singles- Leslie Hansen, MIT
#2 Singles- Anastasia Vishnevetsky, MIT
#3 Singles- Shivani Saxena, Wellesley
#4 Singles- Yi Wang, MIT
#5 Singles- Nathalie Herman, Wellesley
#6 Singles- Grace Cheng, Wellesley

#1 Doubles- Leslie Hansen & Anastasia Vishnevetsky, MIT
#2 Doubles- Marie Watanabe & Grace Cheng, Wellesley
#3 Doubles- Shivani Saxena & Jacqueline Shen, Wellesley

Second Team
#1 Singles- Marie Watanabe, Wellesley
#2 Singles- Sarah Geocaris, Wheaton
#3 Singles- Heather Walsh, Babson
#4 Singles- Mohona Siddique, Wellesley
#5 Singles- Anisa McCree, MIT
#6 Singles- Alex Hall, MIT

#1 Doubles- Sarah Geocaris & Catherine Teague, Wheaton
#2 Doubles- Jes Huang & Kali Hogan, Babson
#3 Doubles- Karina Pikhart & Wi Yang, MIT