Women’s Tennis Announces 2008-09 Award Winners

Three Bulls honored for the season

Denise Harijanto

BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo women’s tennis team announced their 2008-09 award winners as the Bulls honored five players for their work on and off the court this season. Junior Denise Harijanto, senior Smaranda Stan and sophomore Aleksandra Petrova were all honored.

Harijanto was named as the team’s most valuable player following a season where she led the team in singles and doubles victories. Harijanto was named first-team All-MAC for the first time in her career this past season as she played the whole year at first singles and doubles. She was named MAC Player of the Week once during the season and defeated the MAC’s all-time wins leader, Kerstin Pahl, twice this year. Harijanto finished her junior season fourth in school history in singles wins with 65 and second all-time in doubles victories with 72.

Aleksandra Petrova

Petrova was named as the team’s most improved player as she joined the lineup for the first time this season. After playing sparingly during her freshman season, Petrova was a fixture in both the UB singles and doubles lineup this year. She played most of the season at fifth singles finishing with a 13-11 singles mark on the year.

Smaranda Stan

Stan, the lone senior on the team, was presented with the FIRE award. The award is given to the player who shows fire on the court, but also has the ability to pump up her teammates and get them ready for each and every match. Stan finished second on the team in singles victories this season and completes her UB career second all-time in singles wins with 79. Stan was also named to the All-MAC Second Team following the year.

Diana Popescu

Also honored during the end of the year celebration was sophomore Diana Popescu, who was named to the MAC Championship’s All-Tournament team. Popescu finished tied for first on the team in doubles victories and third in singles wins. She was also named to the All-MAC Second Team.

The Bulls finished the season 14-6 and 6-2 in MAC play.