ATLANTA - Announced on Wednesday by the Southern Athletic Association (SAA),
Emma Smith was selected the SAA Women's Tennis Player of the Year, as seven student-athletes from the University of the South were named to the All-SAA Team.
Additionally,
Conchie Shackelford was named the league's Coach of the Year.
The winningest coach in the history of the University of the South, Shackelford earns her sixth SAA Coach of the Year accolade in her career. Including her time in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), she has earned Coach of the Year eight times.
The Tigers posted a 17-5 overall record and an undefeated SAA regular season and tournament championship. Yet to lose since being a founding member of the SAA in 2013, Sewanee has won 59 straight regular season matches, and if you include 27 consecutive wins in the tournament, the Purple and White have won 86 straight contests.
Emma Smith was selected the Player of the Year, as the Tigers have secured the award in back-to-back seasons and the seventh time in school history. Smith, a senior from Mount Pleasant, S.C., record a 6-8 record this spring at the top flight against a rigorous schedule that saw her play five nationally ranked opponents and five regionally ranked opponents.
Ranked 50th in the ITA National Rankings and 24th in the Atlantic South region, the 2023 All-SAA First Team selection has an 8-9 record between fall and spring competition. This is the second straight year that she has been a First Team honoree.
In doubles, she has a 19-4 overall record, as 18 of those wins were with partner
Nicole Nowak, as the duo is ranked 23rd in the country.
Joining Smith on the First Team are
Ansley Carpenter and
Brooke Despriet.
Katherine Petty was named to the Second Team, while
Sarah Livingston,
Natalia Nassar and
Nicole Nowak were Honorable Mentions.
Carpenter, a sophomore from Newnan, Ga., posted a spring record of 7-6, primarily at the No. 2 flight for the Purple and White. Ranked 15th in the Atlantic South, she earns her second All-SAA First Team nod in as many seasons. Between the fall and spring seasons, Carpenter recorded a 19-6 doubles record.
Despriet, a sophomore from Cumming, Ga., secures her second consecutive First Team selection. The 2022 SAA Newcomer of the Year recorded a 7-4 spring record in singles mainly at the No. 3 position. In doubles, she posted a 10-4 spring record.
Petty, a junior from Dallas, Texas, earns her first All-SAA recognition after transferring from Santa Clara University (Calif.) this season. Playing at the No. 4 flight for the Tigers this season, she posted a 9-3 mark in singles.
For Despriet and Petty, they shined in doubles play, posting a 17-4 overall record, including winning the ITA Regional and National Championships back in the fall. The No. 1 team in the country in doubles play, they are listed second in the Atlantic South Region.
Livingston, a sophomore from Fairfax, Va., claims her first All-SAA recognition in her career. She has tallied a record of 10-6 singles record. She enters the NCAA Championships on a six-match winning streak.
Nassar, a senior from Bellaire, Texas, secured a 12-3 singles record this spring as she has won the last six matches she has played in. Earning her second consecutive All-SAA recognition, she was recognized as the Most Valuable Player at the SAA Tournament.
In doubles, Nassar has posted a 14-4 record, including a 12-4 mark with partner
Ansley Carpenter.
Nowak, a junior from Alabaster, Ala., posted a 20-win season in doubles with a 20-4 record. In the spring with partner
Emma Smith, the duo recorded a 15-3 spring record and earned a No. 23 national ranking after the fall season.
Sewanee will begin its NCAA Championship run on Friday against Piedmont in the opening round on Friday from Lexington, Va.
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