Haet Named C-USA Player of the Year
4/26/2019 11:10:00 AM | Women's Tennis
C-USA Women's Tennis Awards Announced
Rice sophomore Michaela Haet has been named the 2019 Conference USA Women's Tennis Player of the Year in a vote of C-USA coaches, the fourth time the Owls have won the honor in their 14 years in the conference.
Haet repeated as a first team all-conference selection in singles and was joined by freshmen Anastasia and Victoria Smirnova. Haet and Linda Huang were named to the doubles first team along with Anastasia Smirnova and Priya Niezgoda. Victoria Smirnova was named the Outstanding Singles Player of the C-USA Championship while she and Bowtell shared the Outstanding Doubles of the Championship with Holly Hutchinson and Brooke Pilkington of Old Dominion.
Bowtell and Niezgoda both were named second team all-conference in singles while Bowtell and Victoria Smirnova earned second team honors in doubles.
The Smirnovas also were named to the C-USA All Freshman team.
Haet joins Natalie Beazant (2012 & 2015) and Blair DiSesa in earning C-USA Player of the Year honors. She is also the third Owl to earn her sport's top honor from the conference this year, joining volleyball's Nicole Lennon and basketball's Eric Ogwumike. She capped off her sophomore season with a thrilling three-set match featuring a pair of tiebreak wins after dropping the opening set to clinch the 2019 C-USA title for the Owls. She is currently ranked 62nd in singles and 58th in doubles with Huang.
Victoria Smirnova led the Owls with a 16-5 record this year, the most wins by a freshman since Beazant was 25-2 in 2012. She was unbeaten in three singles and three doubles matches during the C-USA championship, losing only 14 games over three days in singles and eight in doubles. She combined with Bowtell to clinch the first point in each match and followed with the match clincher vs. Middle Tennessee and the first win in singles in the following two matches to increase Rice's lead to 2-0.
Anastasia Smirnova and Niezgoda are tied for second on the team with 13 wins in singles and combined for a 17-3 record in singles and are currently ranked 82nd. The provided clinching points in nine of the 19 doubles point wins during the season. Bowtell has posted a 12-6 mark in singles and combined with Victoria Smirnova for a 14-3 mark in doubles.
This is the seventh time an Owl has been named the outstanding singles player and the sixth time they have had a doubles team honored for their play at the conference championship.
The Owls will be back in action next weekend in the opening round of the 2019 NCAA Women's Tennis Championship. The bracket for the tournament will be announced at 5:30 on Monday during a webcast on NCAA.com.
Haet repeated as a first team all-conference selection in singles and was joined by freshmen Anastasia and Victoria Smirnova. Haet and Linda Huang were named to the doubles first team along with Anastasia Smirnova and Priya Niezgoda. Victoria Smirnova was named the Outstanding Singles Player of the C-USA Championship while she and Bowtell shared the Outstanding Doubles of the Championship with Holly Hutchinson and Brooke Pilkington of Old Dominion.
Bowtell and Niezgoda both were named second team all-conference in singles while Bowtell and Victoria Smirnova earned second team honors in doubles.
The Smirnovas also were named to the C-USA All Freshman team.
Haet joins Natalie Beazant (2012 & 2015) and Blair DiSesa in earning C-USA Player of the Year honors. She is also the third Owl to earn her sport's top honor from the conference this year, joining volleyball's Nicole Lennon and basketball's Eric Ogwumike. She capped off her sophomore season with a thrilling three-set match featuring a pair of tiebreak wins after dropping the opening set to clinch the 2019 C-USA title for the Owls. She is currently ranked 62nd in singles and 58th in doubles with Huang.
Victoria Smirnova led the Owls with a 16-5 record this year, the most wins by a freshman since Beazant was 25-2 in 2012. She was unbeaten in three singles and three doubles matches during the C-USA championship, losing only 14 games over three days in singles and eight in doubles. She combined with Bowtell to clinch the first point in each match and followed with the match clincher vs. Middle Tennessee and the first win in singles in the following two matches to increase Rice's lead to 2-0.
Anastasia Smirnova and Niezgoda are tied for second on the team with 13 wins in singles and combined for a 17-3 record in singles and are currently ranked 82nd. The provided clinching points in nine of the 19 doubles point wins during the season. Bowtell has posted a 12-6 mark in singles and combined with Victoria Smirnova for a 14-3 mark in doubles.
This is the seventh time an Owl has been named the outstanding singles player and the sixth time they have had a doubles team honored for their play at the conference championship.
The Owls will be back in action next weekend in the opening round of the 2019 NCAA Women's Tennis Championship. The bracket for the tournament will be announced at 5:30 on Monday during a webcast on NCAA.com.
Players Mentioned
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