Women’s Tennis Racks Up ITA Regional Awards

(SKILLMAN, N.J.) – The Carnegie Mellon University women's tennis team is headed to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III Championships next week and recently received word that five members, including both coaches, have been honored by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) with season-ending regional awards. Seniors Laura Chen (Port Washington, N.Y./Paul D. Schreiber) and Cze-Ja Tam (Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula), along with sophomore Katie Cecil (Huntington Beach, Calif./Ocean View) join head coach Andrew Girard and assistant Coach Mike Belmonte as Atlantic South Region award recipients.

Chen was recognized as the Senior Player of the Year after tallying a 15-9 record through the regular season and recently won her No. 2 singles match against #6 DePauw University giving the Tartans a 5-0 regional victory. This marks the second time Chen has been honored by the ITA, as she was named Atlantic South Rookie of the Year in 2009 after winning the ITA Regional Singles Championship and finishing second at the ITA Small College National Championship.

Tam was honored with the Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship award. Off the court, Tam is a leader in the community. She started her own non-profit foundations, Showers of Grace, which funds various schools and missionaries in Kenya and China and has volunteered her time teaching Sunday School, working with children who have disabilities and raising money to help fight hunger. Tam has also been wildly successful on the court winning 66 singles matches while falling in just 23 over her four years. She was instrumental in the Tartans' ITA National Indoor Championship in 2009 when she won her No. 6 singles match against Emory University.

Cecil, a transfer from Tulane University, was named the player to watch in the Atlantic South. Cecil amassed a record of 21-4 and collected four of those wins at No. 1 singles during the second half of the season. Her two losses at No. 1 singles came in three set matches to the number two ranked player in the Atlantic South and number four ranked player in the Central region. The sophomore is currently the third ranked singles player in the Atlantic South and led in both her No. 1 singles matches during the second and third rounds of the NCAA tournament last weekend.

Girard and Belmonte are both receiving recognition for the second time as Girard was named Atlantic South Coach of the Year in 2008 and Belmonte Atlantic South Men's Assistant Coach of the Year in 2009.