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Women's Tennis All-Conference & Specialty Awards Announced
May 4, 2012
IRVING, Texas - Rice's Natalie Beazant became the fifth player in Conference USA women's tennis history to collect both the Player and Freshman of the Year honors, while her coach, Elizabeth Schmidt, received her first Co-Coach of the Year accolade along with Tulsa's Dean Orford, as the 2012 All-Conference USA Teams and individual awards were announced Friday. C-USA Women's Tennis Postseason Awards Beazant was also voted to the All-C-USA Singles and Doubles First Teams. She will take a 15-match winning streak into the NCAA team event next weekend. The Leigh, England native sports a national ranking of No. 39 and has a 7-1 record against ranked opponents this season. She concluded the regular season with a sterling 23-1 record, including a 20-1 mark at No. 1 singles. In addition, she teamed with sophomore Dominique Harmath to earn All-C-USA First Team Doubles honors and Outstanding Doubles Team of the C-USA Championship. The pair earned Conference USA's automatic qualifying spot at the NCAA Doubles Championship after compiling an 18-4 record and a No. 32 national ranking. The Owls' top doubles pair closed the season strongly, winning nine of the last 10 matches, including a perfect 3-0 record during the Conference USA Championship. The duo swept through postseason play by scores of 8-3, 8-4, 8-4. Beazant also was awarded the Outstanding Singles Player of the Championship after going undefeated at 3-0, including a pair of ITA Top 55 wins. Schmidt led Rice to an overall record of 16-8 and a runner-up finish at the 2012 Conference USA Championship. The 16 victories mark a career high for the head coach. The Owls are also returning to the NCAA Championship for the first time since 2006. The program earned its first at-large bid since 1998 and will be making its fifth overall appearance in the national tournament (2006, 1998, 1997 and 1996).
Orford earns a share of his fifth C-USA Coach of the Year honor (2010, 2011, 2008, 2007) as he guided the Golden Hurricane to a 25-2 overall record and is riding a 20-match win streak, with 10 of those wins coming against nationally ranked opponents. The seventh-year head coach led the program to its second straight league title and fourth crown in five years. For the second straight season, Memphis has captured the Newcomer of the Year Award. Redshirt senior Tiffany Welcher transferred into the Tigers' program from Alabama. The Clarksville, Ind., native posted a 13-5 record in singles play and 14-4 in doubles this season. She was also named to the All-C-USA Singles Second Team and paired with freshman Alyssa Hibberd for All-C-USA Doubles Third Team accolades. She was a significant contributor to a Memphis squad that was ranked in the ITA Top 125 for the first time in program history, which included a program-best No. 51 March 20. The Tigers sport a 16-5 overall record and a .762 winning percentage, the highest winning percentage in school history. The entire 2012 All-Conference USA Women's Tennis selections and Specialty Awards can be seen below: All-Conference USA Singles First Team All-Conference USA Singles Second Team All-Conference USA Singles Third Team All-Conference USA Doubles First Team All-Conference USA Doubles Second Team All-Conference USA Doubles Third Team Co-Coaches of the Year: Elizabeth Schmidt, Rice and Dean Orford, Tulsa |
Who is your pick to win the 2013 C-USA Baseball Championship, May 22-26, at Rice's Reckling Park in Houston?
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