OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - Rewarded individually after winning the first Heart of America Athletic Conference Women's Tennis Championship and going 9-7 overall and 4-0 in the Heart heading into nationals, No. 21 William Woods University's
Hanna Lindeboom, in her final season, won her third straight conference player of the year, and
Abigail Lemberger Hughes, in her first year as a head coach, was named HAAC Women's Tennis Coach of the Year, announced the conference Wednesday.
Making All-HAAC for the Owls, Lindeboom and
Mireia Simon Sanchez were named on the first team, and
Kristina Dimitrijevic was on the second team.
Lindeboom, ranked 30th in the latest ITA NAIA women's tennis singles rankings and 10th in doubles with partner Simon Sanchez, has a 13-6 record in singles and 14-3 in doubles this season.
Simon Sanchez, a sophomore from Barcelona, Spain, went 6-6 in singles and 11-3 in doubles this year.
Fellow WWU sophomore Dimitrijevic owns a 4-9 record in singles and 9-9 in doubles this season. She secured the doubles point and the team result with her singles triumph in the Owls' 4-1 victory over archrival Missouri Baptist University in the Heart Championships championship match on April 19 in Kansas City.
The Owls received the 18th seed in the 44th Annual NAIA Women's Tennis National Championships, and they'll face No. 15/No. 15 seed Holy Cross College [Ind.] (8-5) in Round 1 at 8 a.m. CST May 13 at Mobile Tennis Center in Mobile, Ala. The winner of the matchup will take on No. 2/No. 2 seed Georgia Gwinnett College (12-2) in Round 2 at 8 a.m. CST May 14.