WOMEN'S TENNIS

Roster  |  Coaches  |  Schedule / Results  |  News

BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo women's tennis team presented its team awards for the 2004-05 season at the annual Athletic Awards Banquet held at the Millennium Hotel on May 3.

Head coach Kathy Twist made the following presentations: Andreea Novaceanu (Bucharest, Romania/Emil Racovita) earned the Top Newcomer Award and was also selected Most Outstanding; Katrin Fischer (Ternitz, Austria/Borg) earned the Most Improved Player Award; and Kristen Ortman (Amherst, NY/Amherst) received the Coaches' Award.

Andreea Novaceanu

The Top Newcomer Award is presented to the individual student-athlete who distinguishes herself as the most talented new player on the team or the individual who accomplishes the greatest achievements as a first-year player while the Most Outstanding Player Award is given to the student-athlete who makes the most significant contribution to the accomplishments of the team through her skills and leadership. Novaceanu earned All-Mid-American Conference first-team honors and was selected as the league's Freshman of the Year after finishing with a team-best 19-6 singles record. She spent much of the spring season at first singles, compiling a 5-4 record against MAC competition. She went 10-1 during the fall in tournament play, winning singles titles at the Bowling Green and Dartmouth Big Green Invitationals as well as a doubles title at the Bowling Green event. Novaceanu was also 12-8 in doubles play.

Katrin Fischer

The Most Improved Player Award is presented to the student-athlete who has made the greatest stride or improvement in her performance from the previous season or from the beginning of the season to the end of the season. Fischer went 15-8 in singles play and was 8-5 at the fourth spot. She also compiled a 10-11 doubles record. She reached the finals of the Bowling Green Invitational in the third flight of both the singles and doubles competitions. Fischer helped the Bulls to a 6-1 win over Toledo by winning a three-set thriller against Sarah Horning, taking the super-tiebreaker 10-4, after dropping the second set 6-0.

Kristen Ortman

The Coaches' Award is selected by the head coach and is given to the student-athlete who best exemplifies the team virtues as defined by the head coach. The recipient is one who stands out in dedication, commitment, unselfishness and enthusiasm towards helping the team improve. Ortman, who was named Most Improved in 2004 and Most Outstanding in 2003, finished 12-11 in singles action, including a 7-5 record at number three. She also posted the most doubles victories of the season with a 15-9 mark. Ortman became UB's Division I career singles victories leader with her 6-2, 6-0 win over Bowling Green's Andrea Volle on April 1 and now has won 40 singles matches. She also is UB's career doubles victories leader with 40 wins in just three seasons.

The Bulls completed their season 8-7 overall and 4-5 in the MAC, the most league wins since joining the conference in 1999. The Bulls finished sixth in the regular season standings after previously placing no higher than ninth. UB was defeated by Miami (OH), 4-1, in the quarterfinals of the MAC Tournament.