KANSAS CITY – The Great Lakes Valley Conference announced Thursday that University of Indianapolis sophomore Stephanie Hirsch has been named the 2015 GLVC Player of the Year. Jane Carter of Illinois Springfield was named GLVC Freshman of the Year, and the Coach of the Year will be awarded to the coach of the tournament’s winning team. These standouts were selected by the league coaches and recognized for their efforts at an awards reception on the eve of the 2015 GLVC Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championship Tournament, which begins on Friday in Kansas City, Missouri. A total of 32 student-athletes from both the GLVC East and West Divisions were recognized as All-Conference honorees.
Hirsch played all 12 dual matches at No. 1 singles, finishing 12-1 while 14-1 overall and 3-0 against conference foes. She completed the regular season on a 10-match winning streak and also played all doubles matches at No. 1, going 11-3 overall while 4-1 in dual matches with partner Florence Renard. The 12th-ranked player nationally by ITA, she is the first UIndy Player of the Year since 2002.
Carter becomes the first ever UIS tennis player, from either the men’s or women’s side, to earn a major individual award. She was 12-3 overall at No. 1 singles and undefeated (4-0) in league play while 8-8 in doubles at No. 1 as all but one match was played with Danielle Mendoza.
Lewis and Drury headlined the 16-member All-GLVC squad with three team members each. The selections included eight players from both the East and West Divisions. For the Flyers, freshman Eleonora Mindiyarova, sophomore two-time honoree Ana Banic, and junior two-time selection Megan Nguyen represent, while the three Panther members include junior two-time selection Hadeil Ali and sophomore two-time honoree Lara Muller as well as senior and four-time honoree Stephanie Monsch. Additionally, Indianapolis and Missouri-St. Louis garnered two selections each. Joining Hirsch is freshman Florence Renard, and juniors Natalia Carvalhais and Renee Verboven (two-time selection) represent the Tritons. For Bellarmine, senior two-time honoree Evann Waschuk made the team, Carter was the lone Prairie Star with honors, Maryville sophomore Puck Vlaskamp joins the group, McKendree senior Sammy Siegel made it for the Bearcats, sophomore Amy Kuhle of Quincy gleaned the nod for the Hawks for the second year in a row and rounding out the group is host Rockhurst sophomore two-time honoree Emma Schelble.
2015 ALL-GLVC WOMEN’S TENNIS POSTSEASON AWARDS
Evann Waschuk, Sr., Bellarmine
Hadeil Ali, Jr., Drury
Stephanie Monsch, Sr., Drury
Lara Muller, So., Drury
Jane Carter, Fr., Illinois Springfield
STEPHANIE HIRSCH, So., Indianapolis
Florence Renard, Fr., Indianapolis
Ana Banic, So., Lewis
Eleonora Mindiyarova, Fr., Lewis
Megan Nguyen, Jr., Lewis
Puck Vlaskamp, So., Maryville
Sammy Siegel, Sr., McKendree
Natalia Carvalhais-Silva, Jr., Missouri-St. Louis
Renee Verboven, Jr., Missouri-St. Louis
Amy Kuhle, So., Quincy
Emma Schelble, So., Rockhurst
2015 GLVC Player of the Year: Stephanie Hirsch, So., Indianapolis
2015 GLVC Freshman of the Year: Jane Carter, Fr., Illinois Springfield
2015 GLVC Coach of the Year: Winner of Tournament
*UNANIMOUS SELECTION