Orav Named MVP for 2022-23
6/9/2023 12:03:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Kay Pearson Keating Award
Saara Orav has been named the 2023 Kay Pearson Keating Award winner as the Rice women's tennis team MVP.
Orav posted a career-high 10 wins this past season and led the team with a .833 winning percentage (10-2) during the dual season. She was dominant in five tiebreaker sets during the year, winning four of five while never allowing more than three points.
She was named the Conference USA Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week for her clinching performance at #30 Charlotte as she shook off a first-set loss to lead a Rice comeback from a 3-2 deficit to win. She delivered another clinching point against Charlotte in the C-USA Championship, losing only two games over the final two sets as Rice shook a loss in doubles to advance to the championship match.
The first woman to be inducted into the Rice Athletics Hall of Fame, Pearson Keating was the first female athlete in the history of The Rice Institute to gain considerable state and national acclaim for her exploits. As Kay Pearson while attending Rice, she earned All-America status by winning the 1934 National College Girls Invitational Tennis Championship in singles and doubles. She was the women's champion at Rice from 1932 to 1936 and won the Houston City Tennis champion nine times between 1931 and 1940 in addition to a host of AAU titles for singles, doubles, and mixed doubles.
Shortly before graduating from Rice in 1936, Pearson took up golf and won her first Houston City Women's championship two years later. She won the city title six times, with a five-year gap in the middle of her run due to World War II. She was the Texas Women's State champion in 1941 and again in 1947. In 1939, she tied for medalist honors at the Women's Southern Championship.
Keating Pearson was named an Honorary Member of the "R" Association in the fall of 1982 and became the first woman inducted into the Rice Athletics Hall of Fame in 1985. A lifetime supporter of the Owl Club, she endowed the award that bears her name.
Orav posted a career-high 10 wins this past season and led the team with a .833 winning percentage (10-2) during the dual season. She was dominant in five tiebreaker sets during the year, winning four of five while never allowing more than three points.
She was named the Conference USA Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week for her clinching performance at #30 Charlotte as she shook off a first-set loss to lead a Rice comeback from a 3-2 deficit to win. She delivered another clinching point against Charlotte in the C-USA Championship, losing only two games over the final two sets as Rice shook a loss in doubles to advance to the championship match.
The first woman to be inducted into the Rice Athletics Hall of Fame, Pearson Keating was the first female athlete in the history of The Rice Institute to gain considerable state and national acclaim for her exploits. As Kay Pearson while attending Rice, she earned All-America status by winning the 1934 National College Girls Invitational Tennis Championship in singles and doubles. She was the women's champion at Rice from 1932 to 1936 and won the Houston City Tennis champion nine times between 1931 and 1940 in addition to a host of AAU titles for singles, doubles, and mixed doubles.
Shortly before graduating from Rice in 1936, Pearson took up golf and won her first Houston City Women's championship two years later. She won the city title six times, with a five-year gap in the middle of her run due to World War II. She was the Texas Women's State champion in 1941 and again in 1947. In 1939, she tied for medalist honors at the Women's Southern Championship.
Keating Pearson was named an Honorary Member of the "R" Association in the fall of 1982 and became the first woman inducted into the Rice Athletics Hall of Fame in 1985. A lifetime supporter of the Owl Club, she endowed the award that bears her name.
Players Mentioned
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