Cecil Named Regional Arthur Ashe Jr. for Leadership and Sportsmanship Honoree

(SKILLMAN, N.J.) – Carnegie Mellon University women's tennis junior Katie Cecil (Huntington Beach, Calif./Ocean View) has been honored by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).  The junior was awarded the Atlantic South Region Arthur Ashe Jr. for Leadership and Sportsmanship Award.

Off the court, Cecil is a member of the Carnegie Mellon Student-Athletic Advisory Council where this past fall she volunteered for the Light's On afterschool and Ten thousand Villages projects.  During her work with the Light's On project, she interacted with youth to teach the benefit of afterschool activities while she supported one of the world's oldest and largest fair trade organizations through the Ten Thousand Villages program. The junior led a service project with the tennis team in April working at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Cecil also volunteered her time to the St. Bernard Rebuilding Project by helping to build houses in New Orleans as part of Hurricane Katrina Relief in 2010.

As a player, Cecil has been successful on the court, winning 35 singles matches and 36 doubles matches during her two-year career with the Tartans after transferring from Tulane University. A year ago, Cecil was named National Player to watch by the ITA after earning All-America her first season in Pittsburgh.

Cecil will be on the court next week, May 23-25, competing at the 2013 NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Singles and Doubles Championships.  She will play for the singles championship while pairing with sophomore Angela Pratt to play for the doubles championship.