April 28, 2010
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Vanderbilt women's tennis players Catherine Newman and Chelsea Preeg were recognized by the Southeastern Conference office Wednesday when the league office announced the 2010 All-SEC awards. Newman was named a first-team All-SEC selection while Preeg was a second-team All-SEC selection.
In addition to being named first-team All-SEC, Newman's efforts in the classroom didn't go unnoticed as she was named the SEC Women's Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the league coaches.
Newman becomes the third player in school history to earn All-SEC honors all four years. A native of Greensboro, N.C., Newman is one of the most successful players in school history, sporting career records of 105-49 (singles) and 84-62 (doubles). Newman earned first-team All-SEC honors as a freshman and second-team plaudits as sophomore and junior. This spring, Newman is 14-7 singles, including 8-3 against the SEC at the No. 1 position during the regular season. Head Coach Geoff Macdonald has tabbed Newman as one of the hardest working student-athletes he has coached in his 22 years of coaching.
In addition to being named first-team All-SEC, Newman's efforts in the classroom didn't go unnoticed as she was named the SEC Women's Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the league coaches.
In the classroom, Newman's accolades speak for themselves. The senior has earned Dean's List honors in every semester at Vanderbilt while majoring in civil engineering. Earlier this month, Newman was Vanderbilt's representative for the SEC H. Boyd McWhorter Post-Graduate Scholarship. She's a two-time recipient of ESPN the Magazine District IV Academic All-District team and was a second team CoSIDA / ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American as a sophomore. An active member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Newman will be attending graduate school at Stanford University next fall for civil engineering. Holds cumulative GPA of 3.893.
"The scholar athlete of the year award is a richly deserved honor for Catherine," coach Macdonald said. "She is the best student-athlete that I have had the privilege to coach during my career. In addition to being a great tennis player she is perhaps a better student. Catherine got into every graduate school that she applied for and she will be attending Stanford University in the fall to study engineering."
Preeg was named second-team All-SEC after recording a team best 28 wins during the 2009-10 season. A native of Naples, Fla., Preeg went 7-4 in the SEC while playing mostly at No. 2 and No. 3 singles. The sophomore defeated three ranked opponents in singles; No. 47 Maria Sorbello, No. 86 Sasha Krupina and No. 108 Shannon Mathews and has been ranked nationally in both singles and doubles the entire season. In doubles, Preeg went 10-5 while teaming with Jackie Wu during the dual season, including a win over South Carolina's No. 24 Dijana Stojic and Ana Marija Zubori.
"There aren't that many players that are ranked nationally in singles and doubles and Chelsea is one of them," Macdonald said. "She had a great sophomore campaign and we are looking forward to what she will bring in postseason play."
Florida swept the other big awards with Roland Thornqvist named SEC Coach of the Year, Lauren Embree named SEC Player of the Year and Allie Will named SEC Freshman of the Year.
Coach of the Year: Roland Thornqvist, Florida
Player of the Year: Lauren Embree, Florida
Freshman of the Year: Allie Will, Florida
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Catherine Newman, Vanderbilt
All-SEC First Team
Anouk Tigu, Arkansas
Fani Chifchieva, Auburn
Marrit Boonstra, Florida
Allie Will, Florida
Lauren Embree, Florida
Chelsey Gullickson, Georgia
Nadja Gilchrist, Georgia
Kristi Boxx, Ole Miss
Connor Vogel, Ole Miss
Ana Marija Zubori, South Carolina
Caitlin Whoriskey, Tennessee
Catherine Newman, Vanderbilt
All-SEC Second Team
Alexa Gurachi, Alabama
Courtney McClane, Alabama
Dijana Stojic, South Carolina
Anastsia Revzina, Florida
Yvette Hyndman, Georgia
Christine Johnson, Kentucky
Keri Frankenberger, LSU
Karen Nijssen, Ole Miss
Laura van de Stroet, Ole Miss
Rosalia Alda, Tennessee
Maria Sorbello, Tennessee
Zsofia Zubor, Tennessee
Chelsea Preeg, Vanderbilt
All-Freshman Team
Lauren Embree, Florida
Allie Will, Florida
Kelsey Sundaram, Arkansas
Keri Frankenberger, LSU
Alexa Guarachi, Alabama
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