April 27, 2016
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – For the second year in a row five members of the No. 6 Vanderbilt women’s tennis team received 2016 Southeastern Conference accolades Wednesday afternoon, as announced by the conference office.
With five student-athlete honorees the Commodores tied UF for the most in the conference for the second year in a row.
Overall, the Commodores earned one individual honor, placed two student-athletes on the first team All-SEC, Astra Sharma earned a spot on the second team All-SEC, with Fernanda Contreras rounding out awards with a position on the SEC All-Freshman team.
“I think that everyone on our team is deserving of recognition and awards,” said head coach Geoff Macdonald. “And certainly All-SEC is a very high accolade… it’s so difficult to achieve just with the amount of great players we have in this conference, so I’m really proud of Frances (Altick), Sydney (Campbell) and Astra (Sharma). They might not know it, but that’s just a remarkable achievement. Again, this is voted on by the other coaches, no coach is allowed to vote for his/her own player, so it’s a great honor for all of them.”
Headlining the quintet is red-shirt junior Georgina Sellyn, who is the first SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year since Catherine Newman in 2010. Overall, the Glasgow, Scotland native is the third Commodore to ever earn the honor, after compiling a 3.671 GPA in Cognitive Neuroscience, has intered in the Neurosurgical Department at Monroe Carell Jr. Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, is published in an abstract submitted to the American Pediatric Surgical Association and has accepted to work in a research team under the current chief of surgery at Vanderbilt next year while obtaining her masters.
“Georgina winning the Scholar-Athlete award is just very meaningful and I give her a lot of credit for finding her intellectual passion and working really hard at it. Also, to come back from year and a half with injuries to come back and contribute like she has speaks volumes about her character.”
“We preach that we want our team to excel on the court and in the classroom, not just one or the other, but both, and she epitomizes that value.”
The ‘Dores repeat once again with two individuals earning First Team All-SEC honors, as Frances Altick and Sydney Campbell represent VU as two of the top players in the conference.
Redshirt sophomore, Sharma, landed a spot on the second-team All-SEC, after earned a 14-6 dual record and going 22-10 this season.
The only Commodore to ever earn SEC Freshman of the Week honors twice, Contreras is listed among eight other budding student-athletes on the SEC All-Freshman Team. The San Luis Potosi, Mexico native has a 14-2 dual record and 10-1 SEC record as the squad heads into the NCAA tournament.
“For Fernanda to be on the All-Freshman Team, again, this is the best conference in the country, and to stand out as a freshman and make that team is awesome.
2016 SEC Honors:
First Team All-SEC
Erin Routliffe, Alabama
Yuliya Lysa, Arkansas
Andie Dikosavljevic, Auburn
Alizee Michaud, Auburn
Brooke Austin, Florida
Belinda Woolcock, Florida
Ellen Perez, Georgia
Aldila Sutjiadi, Kentucky
Joana Vale Costa, LSU
Jasmine Lee, Mississippi State
Saska Gavrilovska, Texas A&M
Frances Altick, Vanderbilt
Sydney Campbell, Vanderbilt
Second Team All-SEC
Andie Daniell, Alabama
Pleun Burgmans, Auburn
Anna Danilina, Florida
Kourtney Keegan, Florida
Brianna Morgan, Florida
Caroline Brinson, Georgia
Kennedy Shaffer, Georgia
Arianne Hartono, Ole Miss
Georgiana Patrasc, Mississippi State
Bea Machado Santos, Missouri
Rutuja Bhosale, Texas A&M
Sadie Hammond, Tennessee
Astra Sharma, Vanderbilt
All-Freshman
Andie Daniell, Alabama
Ana Oparenovic, Arkansas
Alannah Griffin, Auburn
Jessica Golovin, LSU
Justina Mikulskyte, Kentucky
Ingrid Gamarra Martins, South Carolina
Sadie Hammond, Tennessee
Fernanda Contreras, Vanderbilt
Player of the Year: Brooke Austin, Florida
Freshman of the Year: Andie Daniell, Alabama
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Georgina Sellyn, Vanderbilt
Coach of the Year: Roland Thornqvist, Florida