May 22, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. - The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) announced its national award winners Sunday evening at the NCAA Individual Participants Banquet, and freshman Audra Cohen (Plantation, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) earned ITA Rookie of the Year honors.
Add it to the super freshman's ever-growing list of accolades: Big Ten Athlete of the Year, Big Ten Freshman of the Year, All-Big Ten Selection, Midwest Regional Rookie of the Year, All-American Champion and Midwest Regional Champion. With a 46-6 overall record, Cohen also is Northwestern's new single-season wins record holder (besting Cristelle Grier's mark of 40 in 2004).
Heading into the NCAA Singles Championships, which begin Monday, May 23, Cohen leads the nation in wins with 46, and is one of only three Division I women's tennis players to crack the 40-win mark this year. Megan Bradley of Miami (Fla.) is second with 43 and Georgia Tech's Kristi Miller is sitting on 40.
Cohen burst onto the collegiate tennis scene back in the fall by winning 12 matches in nine days at the ITA All-American Championship, becoming Northwestern's first national singles champion. She only dropped one set along the way.
As an encore, Cohen won the Midwest Regional Championship two weeks later, winning six matches in the process. All told, she won the first 23 matches of her career before USC's Nicole Leimbach handed Cohen her first loss in the ITA National Indoor Championship's round of 16.
She is currently ranked fourth in singles and second in doubles with Cristelle Grier, but was ranked No. 1 in both singles and doubles at various times this season.
The ITA names the National Player of the Year and National Doubles Team of the Year in June.
ITA NATIONAL AWARD WINNERS
Wilson/ITA National Coach of the Year - Mark Guilbeau, Kentucky
ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year - Carlos Drada, Kentucky
ITA Senior Player of the Year - Megan Bradley, Miami (Fla.)
ITA Rookie of the Year - Audra Cohen, Northwestern
ITA National Player to Watch - Suzi Babos, California
ITA/Cissie Leary Sportsmanship Award - Kendall Cline, North Carolina
ITA/Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship - Aniela Mojzis, North Carolina