4/27/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV's Aiwen Zhu was named the 2016 Mountain West Conference Women's Tennis Freshman of the Year as the league announced its annual awards Wednesday night.
The native of Wuxi, China, has posted the same overall record of 22-9 in both singles and doubles this season, including going 5-1 at the No. 1 singles position in dual matches. She was ranked as high as No. 107 in the nation in February.
Zhu is the fifth women's conference freshman of the year from UNLV, joining Lucia Batta in 2011, Elena Gantcheva in 2005, Gyorgyi Zsiros in 2002 and Agnieszka Abram in 2001 (all as members of the MW).
Aiwen was also one of three Rebels to earn a spot on the women's all-conference team. Also being named All-MW in singles was junior Carol Zi Yang (Shenzhen, China), who is currently ranked 96th in the nation in singles with a record of 21-4, including 11-3 at the top spot in the lineup. Freshman Anna
Bogoslavets (Kiev, Ukraine), rounded out the trio as the rookie sits a stunning 21-1 in singles, including 19-0 in duals while playing at the No. 3 and 4 positions.
UNLV also placed one doubles team on the list as Yang and Zhu were selected after posting a 16-5 mark at the No. 1 spot. The Chinese duo was ranked as high as 47th in the country this spring.
The honors were decided by voting among the 11 head coaches. The 2016 MW Player of the Year was Fresno State's Mayar Sherif while the league's coach of the year will be announced next week.
Third-seeded and 72nd-ranked UNLV (21-1 overall) is currently in Fort Collins, Colo., where it begins a drive for another MW tournament title on Friday. The Rebels will take on the winner of a Thursday first- round match between sixth-seeded Wyoming and 11th-seeded host Colorado State.
Weather permitting, UNLV is scheduled to begin with doubles play at 1 p.m. PT on Friday. Saturday's semifinals are slated for 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. PT while Sunday's championship will begin at 10 a.m. PT. The semifinals and final will be broadcast live and for free online via the Mountain West Network.
For complete coverage of the 2016 Mountain West Women's Tennis Championship, visit the Championship Central page http://www.themwc.com/page/championship_w-tennis.
2016 MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TENNIS AWARDS
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Mayar Sherif, Fresno State
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Aiwen Zhu, UNLV
COACH OF THE YEAR: To Be Announced Next Week
2016 ALL-MW TEAM
SINGLES
Chole Forlini, Jr., Air Force
Hanna Kantenwein, Fr., Boise State
Rana Sherif Ahmed, Sr., Fresno State
Mayar Sherif Ahmed, So., Fresno State
Sophie Watts, Sr., Fresno State
Claudia Herrero, So., Nevada, Reno
Andrea Leblanc, Jr., New Mexico
Emily Olivier, Jr., New Mexico
Marie Klocker, Jr., San José State
Sybille Gauvain, So., San José State
Anna Bogoslavets, Fr., UNLV
Carol Zi Yang, Jr., UNLV
Aiwen Zhu, Fr., UNLV
Nini Guensler, Jr., Utah State
Magdalena Stencel, So., Wyoming
Nastya Tokareva, Sr., Wyoming
DOUBLES
Megan LaLone/Naomi de Hart, Boise State
Mayar Sherif Ahmed/Rana Sherif Ahmed, Fresno State
Anneka Watts/Sophie Watts, Fresno State
Sheila Morales/Blaga Delic, Nevada, Reno
Emily Olivier/Dominique Dulski, New Mexico
Sybille Gauvain/Marie Klocker, San José State
Magdalena Stencel/Nastya Tokareva, Wyoming
Carol Zi Yang/Aiwen Zhu, UNLV
