Aburto Named To C-USA All-Decade Team
4/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 18, 2005
Dallas, Texas - Former TCU women's tennis player and current volunteer assistant coach Paty Aburto was named to the Conference USA All-Decade team, the league office announced today. Tulane's Anna Monhartova and David Schumacher were named the Athlete and Coach of the Decade, respectively.
During her playing career in Purple and White, Aburto was a first team all-conference selection during all four years of her collegiate career. Prior to TCU's move to C-USA, Aburto was the Freshman of the Year and a first team all-Western Athletic Conference selection in 2001.
Upon moving to Conference USA in 2002, the Xalapa, Mexico, native earned first team all-conference honors all three seasons. At the 2003 Championship, in addition to being honored in singles, Aburto teamed with Rosa Parks to form the Outstanding Doubles Pair of the competition.
Last season in her senior campaign, Aburto became TCU's first player to compete in the NCAA Singles Championship since the 1988 season. The four-year TCU letterwinner concluded her career as the No. 56 player in the final ITA rankings in 2004. She finished with an 89-41 (.685) singles record and a 91-37 (.711) doubles mark.
This season, Aburto has helped guide the Horned Frogs to an 18-3 dual record and a No. 2 seed in the up-coming Conference USA Championship. This season's team has defeated its highest ranked opponent in school history and it achieved a program high of 14th in the ITA team rankings on Feb. 15 and 22.
C-USA WOMEN'S TENNIS ALL-DECADE TEAM
Anna Monhartova, Tulane (1999-2001) - ATHLETE OF THE DECADE
A three-time All-Conference USA first-team selection (1999, 2000, `01) ... C-USA Women's Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Tulane Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2001 ... led the Wave to its first C-USA tournament title in 2001 ... ranked as high as No. 9 in the ITA singles rankings, the highest ranking for Tulane ... compiled a career 57-17 (.757) singles record in dual matches playing only at No. 1 singles ... two-time Southwest Region Arthur Ashe Sportsmanship and Leadership Award winner ... semifinalist at the National Clay Court Championships in 2001 ... earned a spot in the 2001 NCAA Tournament ... two-time ITA Scholar-Athlete.
Kara Molony, Cincinnati (1998-2001)
Three-time All-C-USA honoree, including two first-team honors ... named C-USA co-Player of the Year in 2000 ... UC's only NCAA participant ... won school-record 37 singles matches in 2000, including 20-straight ... 23-0 in dual matches that year ... ranked as high as No. 22 in singles and No. 27 in doubles in 2001 before falling ill ... owns three of the top 10 season singles win totals in school history, as well as the top combined wins in a season (54) ... UC career record holder in singles wins (106) and combined wins (173) and third in doubles wins (67) ... won a UC record 27 singles matches as a freshman before breaking the mark two years later.
Sarah Borwell, Houston (1999-2002)
C-USA Player of the Year in 2002 ... two time First-Team All-Conference (2001, 2002) ... second team All-Conference (1999) ... three-time NCAA Tournament participant (1999, 2000, 2002) ... advanced to the 2nd round of the singles NCAA Tournament in 2002 ... was 12-2 in singles, 10-3 in doubles in 2002 ... finished 22-5 overall in 2002 campaign ... began 2002 ranked No. 8 by ITA ... compiled a 22-6 record when paired with teammate Galina Seliounina ... the pair of Seliounina and Borwell earned a No. 2 ranking in the Southwest region and a No. 25 national ranking ... finished her career with a 130-56 record
Ana Fernandez, Marquette (1995-1998)
Named C-USA Player of the Year in 1999 ... Marquette's all-time wins leader with 129 singles wins ... set a Marquette school record with 38 singles wins in 1998-99 and had 36 singles wins in 1996-97 ... led Marquette to NCAA Tournament appearances in 1997 and 1998 ... earned First Team All-Conference USA in 1997, 1998 and 1999.
Elisa Penalvo, Marquette (1995-2000)
Conference USA Player of the Year in 1997 ... was named C-USA Freshman of the year that same season ... was a four-time first-team All-C-USA selection in her career ... is third on the all-time singles wins chart at Marquette with 101 and is the school's all-time doubles leader with 98 wins ... contributed to three NCAA Tournament appearances for Marquette and participated in the 1997, 98 and 99 NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships.
Julie Siemers, Saint Louis (1998-02)
Holds a 107-36 cumulative singles record... 2002 C-USA Scholar Athlete of the Year ... 2002 Verizon Academic All-District VII Women's At-Large First Team selection ... 2002 SLU Senior Student-Athlete of the Year ... 2001 C-USA third-team All-Conference selection ... April, 2001 Billiken Student-Athlete of the Month ... April, 2001 SLU Scholar -Athlete of the Month Selection ... four-time C-USA Commissioner's Academic Medal for GPA of 3.75, or higher ... named to the SLU Dean's List all eight semesters of her career ... made an immediate impact as a Billiken freshman, setting new school record with 27 victories.
Paty Aburto, TCU (2001-04)
First team All-Conference selection all three years in Conference USA (2002-2004)... teamed with Rosa Perez to form the Outstanding Doubles Pair of the 2003 C-USA Championship... last season, became TCU's first player to compete in the NCAA singles championship since 1988... Player of the Week on four occasions in her career... finished with an 89-41 singles record and a 91-37 doubles mark... now a volunteer assistant coach with the Horned Frogs.
Jenny Kuehn, Tulane (2002-present)
Named C-USA Player of the Year in 2003 and 2004 ... Outstanding Singles Player at the 2004 C-USA Tournament ... 2003 C-USA Freshman of the Year ... two-time first-team All-Conference USA selection ... ... paired with Julie Smekodub to win the 2002 ITA National Indoor Doubles championship ... 2003 ITA Doubles All-American ... 2003 ITA Southwest Region Co-Freshman of the Year ... five-time C-USA Player of the Week ... reached the Round of 16 in doubles play at the NCAA Tournament as a freshman ... ranked as high as No. 1 in doubles and No. 37 in singles in her career .. career (as of 3/24/05) marks of 70-18 in singles and 72-23 in doubles.
Mirela Vladulescu, UAB (1997-2001)
Only UAB women's player to earn NCAA All-America honors (1998) ... advanced to the quarterfinals of 1998 NCAA Tourney and was ranked No. 1 most of the 1997-98 season, only UAB player to do both ... won 1998 ITA Clay Court National Championships & the Riveria Women's All-American Championships, making her the first women's tennis player to win the first two legs of the Collegiate Grand Slam ... advanced to the round of 16 with doubles partner Paula Biggs at 1998 NCAA championships ... was ITA National Rookie of the Year (1998), ITA National Player of the Month (10/97), ITA Regional Rookie of the Year (1998), C-USA MVP (1998-01), C-USA Freshman of the Year (1998) and First-Team All-C-USA (1998-01).
Kathrine Tessier, USF (1996-2000)
Four-time All-Conference selection, including three first team selections (1997, 1999, 2000) and one second team selection (1998) ... guided her team to two conference championships (1997, 2000) ... named Conference USA player of the week for the week of April 7, 1997 ... finished the 2000 championship season ranked No. 50 in doubles with partner Katherine Tessier going 14-6 in dual match competition.
C-USA WOMEN'S TENNIS COACH OF THE DECADE
David Schumacher, Tulane (2000-present)
Recognized as Conference USA Coach of the Year in 2001, 03 and 04 ... has led the Green Wave to five NCAA Tournaments ... inherited a Tulane program in 2000 that had never reached the Top 25, and led the Wave to the NCAA Round of 16 in 2004 and an ITA ranking of No. 9 in 2005 ... guided Tulane to its first-ever C-USA title in 2001 and has added two more conference team championships ... coached Jenny Kuehn and Julie Smekodub to the 2002 ITA National Indoor Doubles championship ... in his tenure, Tulane has had 19 All-C-USA selections, a two-time C-USA Player of the Year, two C-USA Freshmen of the Year, and two C-USA Tournament Outstanding Singles Players.
