Posted: Jun 08, 2022

Cornwall Named ITA Most Improved Senior; All-Americans Announced

collage of three women's tennis players in action with a group shot of four players standing together

(TEMPE, Ariz.) – Senior Lindy Cornwall (Poway, Calif. / Poway) was honored as the Division III Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Atlantic South Most Improved Senior and garnered All-America honors for the second straight season, joining four others on the ITA All-America Team for 2022.

Junior Bin Zheng (Miami, Fla. / Doral Academy) and a trio of freshmen, Ava Givone (Delray Beach, Fla. / Oxbridge Academy), Sarah Yang (Alpharetta, Ga. / Northview), and Crystal Zhou (Austin, Texas / LASA), were also honored as ITA All-Americans when the association released the winners along with the final team and individual rankings this afternoon. Zheng paired with Cornwall for the doubles distinction, the second honor of their careers, while Zhou earns the honor for both her singles and doubles play. Givone paired with Zhou for the doubles award while Yang earned the honor as a singles player.

The honorific "All-American" title is given to student-athletes that are a top 8 seed in the NCAA singles tournament, win one round at the NCAA singles tournament, finish in the Top 20 in the final ITA Women's Singles Rankings, win ITA Fall Regional Tournament, or win a first-round match at the ITA Cup.

The All-American status is awarded to doubles teams that are a top 4 seed in the NCAA doubles tournament, win one round at the NCAA doubles tournament, finish in the Top 10 in the final ITA Women's Doubles Rankings, win ITA Fall Regional Tournament, or win a first-round match at the ITA Cup.

Cornwall's most improved senior award comes after a career in which she tallied 120 career wins with just 12 coming during her first season of competition while two seasons were cut short due to COVID-19. Cornwall played first singles and first doubles as a junior, earning All-America recognition in both while twice winning the ITA Southeast Regional Doubles Tournament to go with a quarterfinals appearance at the 2021 NCAA Doubles Championship. Cornwall rose to 13th in the nation in singles as a junior and closed her career with a 20-8 singles mark to go with a 28-8 doubles showing as a senior. She once again paired with Zheng to earn All-America honors in doubles play for their ITA Southeast Regional Doubles Championship in the fall. The duo finished the 2021-22 season with a 25-8 record and a national ranking of 18.

Zhou is a singles and doubles All-American this year finishing the season ranked 32nd in the nation in singles play with a 21-8 record. Zhou won the ITA Southeast Regional Singles Championship and finished second at the ITA Southeast Regional Doubles Tournament with Givone but the pair went on to play in the semifinals of the ITA Cup to earn the national award. The first-year pair finished with a 10-2 record.

Yang closed the season ranked 13th in the nation in singles play and won her first-round match at the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships. Her first-year record of 27-5 ties for the third-most victories in a single season and is tied for the second-most victories by a first-year Tartan.

The team finished the season with a 16-7 record and advanced to the third round of the NCAA tournament for the 13th time in program history while earning a national ranking of 11.

In the Atlantic South Region, the Tartans finished ranked third with Yang earning the top singles ranking, Zhou fifth, and Cornwall 13th. For doubles play, Cornwall and Zheng earned the fifth spot in the region while Zhou and senior Janabelle Wu (San Jose, Calif. / Lynbrook) finished eighth.