Alla, Heaney-Secord Receive Regional Recognition from the ITA

(SKILLMAN, N.J.) - Two Carnegie Mellon University men's tennis players have been honored by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) with regional awards. Freshman Abhishek Alla (Hyderabad, India/IMG Pendleton School) was named the Atlantic South Rookie of the Year and sophomore Christian Heaney-Secord (Westwood, Mass./Westwood) was named the Atlantic South Player to Watch.

Alla began his first season as a Tartan with a quarterfinal appearance at the ITA Southeast Regional before winning four straight matches at the No. 3 position from late October through February. The freshman then took over the No. 2 slot where he went on to win five matches against nationally ranked teams. Alla finished the year with a 17-6 singles mark and a 2-1 record in University Athletic Association (UAA) play.

Heaney-Secord moved into the No. 1 singles position this year after compiling a 10-7 mark at No. 2 singles in his rookie campaign. This season, the sophomore has played some of the top competition in Division III, defeating four opponents from nationally ranked teams, two of which came during UAA play. He is continuing his season at the 2013 NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Singles Championship on May 23-25.