Saint Francis University Athletics

Women's Tennis Hands Out Annual Awards

7/19/2018 2:16:00 PM

Paul Marboe

Flash Points:

• SFU Women's Tennis announced its 2017-18 team awards on Thursday.
• The Team MVP award was given to freshman Nastasia Tamarkin (Washington, D.C./School Without Walls).
• The Red Flash were the No. 3 seed in the NEC Tournament.

LORETTO, Pa. – The Saint Francis Women's Tennis team, led by Head Coach Rob Castille, announced its 2017-18 team awards on Thursday.
 
The Red Flash went 5-12 this season, including a 3-2 record in the NEC play.  Saint Francis was the No. 3 seed in the NEC Tournament.
 
Sophomore Lucia Seigford (Madrid, Spain/Mirasur) was a Second Team All-NEC selection in singles and junior Raksha Bode (Reunion, Fla./Florida Virtual School) and Seigford were selected Second Team in singles and doubles.  Nastasia Tamarkin (Washington, D.C./School Without Walls) was named to the All-Rookie Team.
 

MVP: Nastasia Tamarkin (Washington, D.C./School Without Walls)	Tamarkin earned her first career All-NEC accolade.  The freshman went 12-10 in singles, including 11-5 in dual matches and 5-0 in NEC matches.  She split time at No. 4 and 5 singles and won nine of her last 11 matches of the year, going 6-2 at No. 4.  Tamarkin also went 14-12 in doubles with an 8-8 mark this Spring.   Castille: "Nastasia had a great rookie season. She went 11-5 in dual matches (singles), playing mainly at the #4 and #5 spot. She was someone that we counted on most matches for a point and she usually delivered. She was also our best doubles player and she and Laura Gutierrez (Bogota, Colombia/Cibercolegio UCN) had some strong results this year playing at the top spot. We'll be looking for Nastasia to hopefully move up in the lineup this year and to have an even better sophomore season."
Most Improved: Lucia Seigford (Madrid, Spain/Mirasur)	Seigford won five singles matches this Spring, all at No. 1, including three wins in NEC play.  She won four of five matches between March 18 and April 13.  In doubles, Seigford and Bode went 7-3 in dual matches and 5-0 in NEC matches, while playing all their matches at No. 2.  The duo had the conference's third-most wins and third-best win percentage at No. 2.   Seigford: "I think Lucia improved the most this year because her attitude and mental toughness improved a lot. She was much better in both of those aspects this year compared to her rookie season. Because of that, she made a lot of great strides with her game and had some solid wins. I know Lucia can even get better, in many different aspects, which is exciting. We'll be looking for her to have her best year yet this coming season."
Coach's Award: Stephanie Miller (Washington, D.C./St. John's College High School)	The Coach's Award is awarded to the player that most exemplifies the character and values of Saint Francis University and the men's tennis program and who has shown great leadership both on and off the court. Miller won nine singles and five doubles matches this year.  She went 9-7 in singles dual matches, going 5-3 at No. 4 and 4-4 at No. 5.  Miller also had three wins in dual match doubles.  Went 3-2 in singles in NEC play.   Castille: "Steph wins this award for the second straight year. I am so proud of how far she has come since her freshman year. She was named captain this year and did a good job leading by example both on and off the court. She continues to work on getting better, both as a tennis player and as a person, and that is a great attribute of a good leader. We will continue to look to Steph to lead this team and to be a great representative of Saint Francis University and our women's tennis team."