April 25, 2018
The 2018 women’s tennis first- and second-team All-SEC, All-Freshman team and Southeastern Conference yearly awards were announced by the league office Wednesday afternoon.
Head coach Geoff Macdonald garnered SEC Coach of the Year honors for the fifth time in his career. Macdonald has led Vanderbilt to its current No. 1 ranking alongside a 22-3 overall and 12-1 SEC record as the SEC Regular Season Champion. The program also won its third SEC Tournament title on Sunday with a 4-0 victory over Florida.
First Team All-SEC
Vanderbilt boasts three student-athletes on the SEC’s First Team: Fernanda Contreras, Christina Rosca and Astra Sharma
Led the SEC in the ITA rankings for the entire regular season… Named 2018 SEC Tournament MVP… Clinched Vanderbilt’s 4-0 Championship Match over Florida… Earned a career-high No. 4 singles ranking … The junior is three wins short of claiming VU’s single-season win record (39) as well as her 100th career victory… Sat in the ITA top-10 the entire dual season… Owns just four SEC losses over three-year campaign… Vanderbilt’s first Rivera/ITA Singles Tournament Champion… Oracle ITA Fall National Championship semifinalist…Clinched Vanderbilt’s 4-3 victory over No. 1 UNC… overcame a 2-5 third-set deficit for the victory vs. the Tar Heels.
Career-high singles ranking of No. 20 in the nation and career-high doubles ranking of No. 19… Rosca/Kurtz have not left ITA top-25 since their doubles debut on Nov. 15… Defeated No. 1 team in the nation at Riviera/ITA All-Americans, Michigan’s Kate Fahey and Alex Najarian, 8-6 with Emma Kurtz… Meyer/Rosca own a nine-match winning streak… 25-9 overall doubles record, 8-2 in SEC play… Limited No. 22 Maria Kononova and Tamuna Kutubidze (North Texas) to one single game at All-Americans… Advanced from qualifiers to become Riviera All-American singles semifinalist, defeating No. 1 Ena Shibahara in QFs… 2017 ITA Division I Women’s Ohio Valley Regional Championship semifinalist… Member of 2017 SEC All-Tournament team.
Sharma has amassed a 105-31 overall career singles record… 2017 SEC Player of the Year is undefeated in SEC play throughout her redshirt senior season… Has played entirely at the No. 1 singles position… Owns a career-high doubles ranking of No. 1 in the nation and career-high singles ranking of No. 2… Represented Vanderbilt in her Grand Slam debut, competing in the Australia Open doubles main draw… Owns just two losses this season with an 11-2 record and four top-25 victories and six ranked wins… Earned her first top-10 victory of the year in a straight-set victory over No. 8 Allie Sanford 6-4, 6-3… Defeated UGA’s sixth-ranked Jokic 6-4, 6-3… Sharma clinched Vandy’s sweep over No. 1 Stanford on Saturday… While unranked, Sharma/Contreras defeated the third-ranked team in the nation, Stanford’s Gordon/Arbuthnott 6-3… Named SEC Player of the Week twice this season… 2017 All-American (singles/doubles).
Second Team All-SEC
Summer Dvorak and Amanda Meyer represent VU as members of the SEC’s second team.
Clinched Vanderbilt’s second-straight SEC Regular Season title… rebounded from a 1-4 deficit to take five games in a row and the match, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4… Clinched Vanderbilt’s No. 1 seed in 2018 SEC Tournament… Named to the 2018 SEC Tournament Team… Went undefeated at 2018 SEC Tournament… Rebounded from two seasons of injury to earn a 27-5 overall 2018 season… Owns an 11-3 dual match record, playing at the No. 5 and No. 6 singles positions… Began her 2018 season on a nine-match run… Named SEC Player of the Week (4/18)… Made SEC debut against Auburn and owns just one league loss… Owns just three three-set wins, taking eight of her victories in straight sets… Sits undefeated in singles and doubles since March 31… Owns 13 doubles victories on the year.
Amanda Meyer | Second Team, All-Freshman Team
Clinched doubles point over Florida alongside Chris Rosca, 6-1… Meyer/Rosca own just one doubles loss on the year… Meyer/Rosca own a nine-match winning streak… Meyer owns 25 doubles victories this season, going 12-0 at No. 3 doubles… Went undefeated at SEC Tournament… Owns 28 singles victories, playing primarily on courts three and four… Amassed an eight-match win streak from Jan. 21 to Feb. 25… Clinched VU’s 4-3 victory over Arkansas on court three over Mia Jurasic 7-6(4), 6-4… Owns a perfect 5-0 record at No. 6 singles…The freshman Commodore owns three ranked singles victories… Meyer earned her first collegiate ranked victory over No. 117 Jessica Hinojosa, 6-4, 6-0… Highest ranked win came over No. 32 Jessie Aney (UNC), 6-3, 6-2…Picked up first ranked SEC win over Ole Miss’ No. 69 Tea Jandric in three sets, 6-2, 0-6, 6-3.
Vanderbilt will learn its NCAA tournament seed in less than one week during the NCAA selection show, which airs May 1 at 4:00 p.m. CT.
