Tsu of Women’s Tennis Named National ITA Most Improved; Two Others Receive Regional Awards

(TEMPE, Ariz.) – Senior Brooke Tsu (Hillsborough, Calif./Burlingame) of the Carnegie Mellon University women's tennis program received the NCAA Division III Most Improved Player award by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) on Wednesday, May 25. Tsu was joined by two of her teammates who were honored with Atlantic South Region accolades; senior Abbey Hamstra (Wheatfield, Ind./Kankakee Valley) was awarded the Arthur Ashe Jr. for Leadership and Sportsmanship award and freshman Jamie Vizelman (Highland Heights, Ohio/Mayfield) was named Rookie of the Year for the region.

Tsu played at No. 1 singles in her senior campaign, after working her way up from the No. 5 position as a freshman, and mostly playing between the No.'s 3-5 positions her first three years. The senior is 17-10 this season in singles play and 15-5 at No. 2 doubles, as she will compete at the 2016 NCAA Women's Tennis Singles Championships beginning Thursday.

Off the court, Hamstra is a leader in the community. She has volunteered her time to Buddy Up which is a program where tennis is taught to people with down-syndrome. Hamstra also was part of Operation Hope, a program that taught inner city kids the basics of finance and budgeting. She was a founding member of the Carnegie Mellon Sports Analytics Club. As a player and a 2015-16 team captain, Hamstra has won 33 singles matches during her four-year career and 29 doubles matches with 11 coming this past season.

Vizelman amassed a record of 17-7 and collected three of those wins at No. 2 singles while primarily playing No. 4. The Tartans faced a challenging schedule that featured 12 nationally-ranked opponents; in those matches, Vizelman posted a record of 7-5. The freshman teamed with Tsu in doubles and the tandem posted a mark of 13-3 at No. 2. Vizelman finished the season with a combined 16-6 record in doubles play.