Fellerhoff and Shine Named All-AAC

May 1, 2014

The American Athletic Conference announced its women's tennis regular-season awards on Thursday.Louisville's Julia Fellerhoff and Rebecca Shine were named to the All-Conference team. The pair is heading out to the NCAA National Championships next week.

USF senior Loreto Alonso-Martinez was named Player of the Year, while Houston was recognized with Freshman of the Year Despoina Vogasari and Coach of the Year Patrick Sullivan.

Alonso-Martinez has gone 18-2 in singles play, and will take a streak of 15 straight singles victories into the NCAA Championship. Ranked No. 73 in the nation by the ITA, Alonso-Martinez delivered four victories, all in straight sets, at the American Athletic Conference Championship, earning Most Outstanding Performer honors as she led USF to the team title. Alonso-Martinez also earned automatic qualification to the NCAA Division I singles championship. The senior was twice recognized as Conference Player of the Week throughout the season.

Vogasari has enjoyed an outstanding debut season for the Cougars, going 25-7 in singles and 17-9 in doubles. She immediately became Houston's top player and propelled the squad to a 21-5 record and the school's first NCAA tournament appearance since 1998. Vogasari became Houston's first 20-match winner in over six seasons, tying the program's freshman dual match wins record and winning eight of her last 10 matches. The winner of a conference-best three Player of the Week awards, she is ranked No. 96 by the ITA.

Sullivan earned Coach of the Year honors after leading Houston to a historic season. At 21-5, the Cougars are two wins shy of equaling the school record for victories in a season. Houston claimed a program-record five wins over ranked opponents. Houston sits at No. 33 in the nation, while its March 4 ranking of No. 21 was the highest in program history. After a 13-11 record last season, Sullivan engineered a dramatic turnaround for the Cougars as they advanced to the final of the American Athletic Conference Championship, and qualified for the NCAA tournament for the first time in 16 years.

The American also named 12 individuals to the All- Conference Team. Houston and USF each had three athletes named to the All-Conference team, followed by Memphis with two and Rutgers and SMU with one apiece.

American Athletic Conference Player of the YearLoreto Alonso-Martinez, Sr., USF
American Athletic Conference Freshman of the YearDespoina Vogasari, Houston
American Athletic Conference Coach of the YearPatrick Sullivan, Houston
All-Conference TeamElena Kordolaimi, Jr., Houston*Tina Rupert, Fr., HoustonDespoina Vogasari, Fr., Houston*Julia Fellerhoff, Sr., LouisvilleRebecca Shine, Sr., LouisvilleMarta Morgan, Fr., MemphisAnki Wind, Fr., MemphisVanessa Petrini, Sr., RutgersLoreto Alonso-Martinez, Sr., USF *Olaya Garrido-Rivas, Fr., USF*Kayla Rizzolo, Sr., USFDasha Sharapova, Fr., SMU
*unanimous selection

University of Louisville Athletics

Players Mentioned

Julia Fellerhoff

Julia Fellerhoff

Rebecca Shine

Rebecca Shine

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