2019 Conference Carolinas Women's Tennis All-Conference and Major Awards Announced
HIGH POINT, N.C. – University of Mount Olive's Lina Maria Romero Alarcon was crowned both the 2019 Conference Carolinas Women's Tennis Player and Freshman of the Year. In addition, Limestone College's Alex Ferguson picked up Coach of the Year accolades, the Conference announced tonight.
New to the Conference Carolinas postseason award offering is the Elite 23 Award. The Elite 23 Award is modeled after the NCAA's Elite 90 Award, which is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA at their respective championship site. The inaugural winner for women's tennis is Erskine College's Rachel Berkey.
Romero Alarcon, a freshman from Villa Vicencio, Colombia, went 14-4 in singles (No. 2) and 13-6 in doubles (No. 1). Romero Alarcon went undefeated in conference action and closed the regular season on a 10-match win streak. Romero Alarcon is the first recipient of the Freshman of the Year award in UMO women's tennis program history and the first Player of the Year for UMO since the 2004-05 season.
Ferguson led the Saints to a 13-6 overall record and a perfect 11-0 league mark. He guided the Saints to their third regular season title over the past five years. This is Ferguson's third Women's Coach of the Year honor..
Berkey, a senior accounting major from Myrtle Beach, S.C., sports a cumulative 4.0 GPA.
All-Conference Carolinas First Team
Lina Maria Romero Alarcon, Mount Olive
Fantine Botella, Emmanuel
Laura Aholu, Limestone
Camille Haus, Limestone
Ariana Orozco, Mount Olive
Pauline Hagen, Converse
All-Conference Carolinas Second Team
Cynthia Carrier, Chowan
Alexandra Dolfi, Limestone
Daria Avram, Barton
Pearllan Cipriano, Emmanuel
Rachel Berkey, Erskine
Ana Chirila, Limestone
All-Conference Carolinas Third Team
Maria Raich, Emmanuel
Teagan McNamara, Belmont Abbey
Eileen Rickert, Erskine
Marie Berghaus, Erskine
Deike Schipper, Mount Olive
Luiza Souza, Erskine
Player of the Year
Lina Maria Romero Alarcon, Mount Olive
Freshman of the Year
Lina Maria Romero Alarcon, Mount Olive
Coach of the Year
Alan Ferguson, Limestone
Elite 23 Award
Rachel Berkey, Erskine
Regular Season Women's Tennis Champion
Limestone College
Conference Carolinas is a NCAA Division II athletics conference made up of 11 teams from Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. These institutions consist of: Barton College, Belmont Abbey College, Converse College, Emmanuel College, Erskine College, King University, Lees-McRae College, Limestone College, University of Mount Olive, North Greenville University, and Southern Wesleyan University.