Marshall University Athletics
Women's Tennis Dominates MAC Postseason Awards
4/29/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Women's Tennis Dominates MAC Postseason Awards
4/29/2003
CLEVLAND-After an undefeated conference season and a tournament championship, it would be easy to expect the Marshall University women?s tennis team would dominate the postseason conference awards. When the conference announced the awards, Marshall led the way with four selections on the All Mid-American Conference teams and had the MAC Coach of the Year in John Mercer.
Mercer earns his first coach of the year award after only one season as the head coach for the Thundering Herd. After a 2-5 start, Mercer led the Thundering Herd to a 17-2 finish and won the conference championship with a perfect 9-0 record.
Jessica Johnson led the way for the Marshall players as an All-MAC first team selection. Johnson finished the season 7-2 in conference play at the number one position and teamed with Alice Sukner to form the 31st ranked doubles team in the nation.
Sukner, Ashley Kroh and Danielle Hock all made the All-MAC second team squad. Kroh and Hock finished perfect in singles and doubles this season in conference play, going a combined 36-0 in the events. Sukner played solid in the number two position for the Thundering Herd, recording a 6-3 record in conference play.
In other awards, Frederika Girsang of Western Michigan University earned MAC Player of the Year, Cassie Drake of Northern Illinois University was named MAC Newcomer of the Year and Alyson Gabel of Bowling Green State University earned the Leann Grimes Davidge Sportsmanship Award.
The Thundering Herd now will wait for the NCAA to announce the pairings for the NCAA Tennis Championships. The pairings will be announced live on ESPNews at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 30. NCAA Tournament play will open May 9-11 at selected campus sites.
Coach of the Year: John Mercer, Marshall
Player of the Year: Frederika Girsang, Western Michigan
Newcomer of the Year: Cassie Drake, Northern Illinois
Leann Grimes Davidge Sportsmanship Award: Alyson Gabel, Bowling Green
First Team All-MAC
Jessica Johnson, Marshall
Rebecca Hawkins, Eastern Michigan
Lisa D'Amelio, Eastern Michigan
Frederika Girsang, Western Michigan
Irina Strembitsky, Akron
Melissa Roach, Ball State
Second Team All-MAC
Alice Sukner, Marshall
Ashley Kroh, Marshall
Danielle Hock, Marshall
Branka Savic, Northern Illinois
Cassie Drake, Northern Illinois
Melanie Peters, Western Michigan
