Women of Troy Earn Pac-10 and Regional Honors
May 15, 2007 | Women's Tennis
May 15, 2007
The USC women's tennis team has several standout players shining at the top of the list for both regional and Pac-10 honors this season. Junior Lindsey Nelson has been named the Pac-10 Women's Tennis Player of the Year, and freshman Sarah Fansler is the West Region Rookie of the Year and the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year. Also honored this season for their contributions on and off the court are Amanda Fink and Anca Anastasiu. Fink has earned All-Pac-10 Honorable Mention, and Anastasiu has been honored with the West Region's ITA/Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship. Fansler and Anastasiu's West Region awards put the pair in line for the national honors as well. Those awards will be announced May 22 at the NCAA Championships in Athens, Ga.
As the 2007 Pac-10 Singles Champion, junior Lindsey Nelson (Villa Park, Calif./Villa Park HS) is the second Trojan to be named the Pac-10 Women's Tennis Player of the Year. She has been a first team selection all three of her years at Troy and has another powerful season so far for the Trojans. As she prepares to move into the NCAA Round of 16 with her fellow Women of Troy on Friday in Athens, Ga., Nelson holds a 26-6 overall singles record - marking the fewest singles losses of her teammates on the Trojans dual match ladder. Playing at the competitive No. 1 singles slot, Nelson went 14-5 in dual matches and recently worked her way into two late-season rematches of the 2006 NCAA Singles Championship match, where she faced NCAA champ Susie Babos of Cal. Nelson won both her dual match face-off and the Pac-10 Singles Championship match against Babos to secure the Pac-10 crown for the USC junior. Now ranked No. 5 in the nation, Nelson earned the No. 4 seed into the NCAA Singles Championships where she aims to make another run to the final match.
For her all-out success in her first season at USC, freshman Sarah Fansler (Laguna Beach, Calif.) has been given both regional and conference nods as the Rookie of the Year. Fansler is the second straight Trojan to earn both honors, following Amanda Fink as the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and the West Region's ITA Rookie of the Year. In 2007, Fansler came to Troy and immediately made her presence known on the collegiate tennis scene. She won the ITA West Regional Singles Championship and has since pounded out a team-best 32 singles wins. Playing the majority of her matches at the No. 2 position and now ranked No. 11 in the nation with her 32-9 overall singles mark and a 16-4 dual match record, Fansler has been seeded 9-12 for the 2007 NCAA Singles Championships. In doubles, she and Dianne Matias worked their way to the ITA West Regional Doubles final, and she is playing with Nelson during the NCAA Team Championships.
Just below Nelson and Fansler's Pac-10 First Team honors is Amanda Fink (Calabasas, Calif./Calabasas HS), who has earned All-Pac-10 Second Team accolades in her sophomore season. Playing at the No. 3 singles slot, Fink holds a 24-11 overall singles record and an 18-5 dual match mark. She has worked her way to a No. 73 singles ranking nationally, and also enjoys a No. 47 ranking in doubles with teammate Judy DeVera. Together, the pair has amassed a 28-8 overall record in doubles, going 18-3 in dual matches thanks in part to a 15-match winning streak during the season. Fink was a first-teamer last season, when she was named the 2006 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year.
Now in line for national honors as well, senior Anca Anastasiu (Pretoria, South Africa) caps her USC playing career as the West Region's ITA/Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship winner. Last season, she became USC's 28th student-athlete to be named a First Team Academic All-American. Now in her fourth season at Troy, Anastasiu continues to be a leader on and off the court. After picking up two more singles wins during the first and second rounds of the NCAA Team Championships, Anastasiu now holds 100 career singles wins. Her career singles mark is 100-44 overall as she prepares to make her fourth trip to the NCAA Team Championships with the Women of Troy, and her career dual match singles record is a powerful 73-19. She has never finished a season with fewer than 20 singles wins, and is a two-time All-Pac-10 selection (2004 and 2005). To open her senior season, Anastasiu won the ITA West Regional Doubles Championship with teammate Julie Smekodub. Her supportive and respectful attitude on the courts is coupled with an impressive academic career as well. In addition to her Academic All-American accolades, she is a regular on the Pac-10 All-Academic lists and was named the 2006 Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year at USC. The ITA/Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship goes to a player who has exhibited outstanding sportsmanship and leadership as well as scholastic, extracurricular and tennis achievements.
2007 Pac-10 Women's Tennis All-Conference
First Team
Susie Babos, Jr., CAL
Sarah Fansler, Fr., USC
Zsuzsanna Fodor, Sr., CAL
Theresa Logar, Sr., STAN
Lindsey Nelson, Jr., USC
Riza Zalameda, Jr., UCLA
Second Team
Nadia Abdala, Fr., ASU
Sabrina Capannolo, Sr., ASU
Celia Durkin, Jr., STAN
Nina Henkel, Fr., CAL
Tracy Lin, Jr., UCLA
Jessica Nguyen, So., STAN
Yasmin Schnack, Fr., UCLA
Danielle Steinberg, So., ARIZ
Anne Yelsey, Sr., STAN
Honorable Mention
Lindsay Burdette, Fr., STAN
Roxanne Clarke, Sr., ASU
Amanda Fink, So., USC
Juliette Mavroleon, Jr., ARIZ
Kady Pooler, Sr., ASU
Pac-10 Player of the Year
Lindsey Nelson, Jr., USC
Pac-10 Doubles Team of the Year
Susie Babos, Jr., and Zsuzsanna Fodor, Sr., CAL
Pac-10 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year
Sarah Fansler, Fr., USC
Pac-10 Coach of the Year
Lele Forood, STAN
Players Mentioned
