UB Women's Tennis Announces Awards

Dean, Jacob, Ortman, Novaceanu earn accolades
BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo women's tennis squad presented its team awards for the 2005-06 season at the annual Athletic Awards Banquet held at the Millennium Hotel on May 2.

Head coach Kathy Twist made the following presentations: Natalie Dean (Feilding, New Zealand/Palmerston North) was selected as the Top Newcomer; Tina Jacob (Singapore/Raffles JC) earned the Most Improved Player Award; Kristen Ortman (Amherst, NY/Amherst) received the Coaches' Award for the second time in her career; and Andreea Novaceanu (Bucharest, Romania/Emil Racovita) was named Most Outstanding for the second consecutive year.

Natalie Dean

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. Dean came to UB after playing a year a Division II Delta State and was a solid addition to the middle of the lineup. She finished 15-10 in singles play, with most of her matches in the number three or four positions. She also went 16-9 in doubles competition, forming the number three duo with Katrin Fischer (Ternitz, Austria/Borg) late in the season as the pair went 5-1. Dean's victory in the third singles match, a straight-sets win against Bowling Green's Heidi Romer, clinched UB's first-ever Mid-American Conference Tournament win.

Tina Jacob

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. Jacob saw duty as UB's number six singles player, finishing with a stellar 16-7 mark, including a perfect 3-0 record in singles and doubles at the Bowling Green Invitational where she won the number five singles and number three doubles titles. Jacob was also 19-7 in doubles play, paired mostly with Novaceanu as the duo went 8-1 at number two before moving to the first spot.

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, last year's Coaches' Award recipient, posted the most singles wins of her four-year career with a 19-7 record. She was 7-2 at second singles and later went 4-2 (3-0 MAC) at the fourth spot. She also was 19-9 in doubles, splitting time paired with Dean (10-6) and Miglena Nenova (Rousse, Bulgaria/Eurointellect) (9-3). Ortman won the second singles title at the Bowling Green Invitational, defeating Nenova in the finals. She earned MAC Player of the Week honors after helping the Bulls clinch the number two spot in the league tournament. Ortman ended her career as UB's all-time leader in singles and doubles victories with 59 in both disciplines and was named to the Academic All-MAC team. She also earned the SUNY Chancellor's Award for women's tennis.

Andreea Novaceanu

The Most Outstanding 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, the Top Newcomer and Most Outstanding from the 2004-05 season, broke her own school record for singles wins in one year by going 27-6. She was 7-2 as UB's number one player and 8-1 in the three spot while also leading the team with 10 tournament wins. In doubles play, she was 20-7, tied for most wins with Nenova, with 19 of her wins paired with Jacob. After being named the MAC's Freshman of the Year in 2005, she picked up her second straight nod to the league's first team in 2006. During the regular season, Novaceanu had an 11-match singles win streak and was twice selected as the MAC's Player of the Week. In tournament play, she and Jacob combined to win the number three crown at the Bowling Green Invitational and reached the A Flight championship final of the Dartmouth Big Green Tournament.

The Bulls completed the best season in school history with a 16-5 overall record and 6-2 mark in MAC action, earning the number two seed in the championship tournament. UB reached the championship match for the first time since joining the league in 1999, falling to Western Michigan in the finals.

05/12/2006