May 7, 2007
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Center Valley, Pa. - Army's Niki Flach was named Patriot League Player of the Year and Army's Paul Peck earned Patriot League Coach of the Year honors. Bucknell's Tania Varela was voted the Patriot League Rookie of the Year. Army, the 2007 Patriot League Champion, placed four student-athletes on the All-Patriot League team, while Bucknell and Colgate each had three. Rounding out the All-Patriot League list were two student-athletes from Lehigh and one from Lafayette.
Flach becomes the first student-athlete from Army to be named Patriot League Player of the Year since the award was created in 2002. A season ago, Flach was tabbed the Patriot League Rookie of the Year and has been named to the First-Team All-Patriot League twice. The sophomore Black Knight earned Patriot League Tournament Co-Most Valuable Player honors after posting a 4-0 record at the tourney. Overall, she went 6-1 in singles play against Patriot League opponents and 7-0 in doubles action.
Peck guided Army to its third-straight Patriot League Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance. The Black Knights earned the top seed in this year's Patriot League Tournament with a 5-0 mark in Patriot League play. Peck has been named the Patriot League Coach of the Year three seasons in a row and eight times overall.
For the second time since 2002, Bucknell has taken home the Patriot League Rookie of the Year award with Varela being honored this year and Veronica Brown sharing the award in 2003. Varela posted a 4-2 singles record at No. 1 singles in Patriot League competition. She posted an overall singles record of 8-4 for the spring. The rookie Bison was the only freshman to be named First-Team All-League this season.
Joining Flach as All-Patriot League selections for Army were sophomore Brooke Jones on the First-Team and sophomore Sarah Giles-Madden and freshman Kristin Beehler on the Second-Team. Jones, Patriot League Tournament Co-Most Valuable Player, went 6-1 at No. 2 singles and 7-0 in doubles play against Patriot League opponents. A two-time Second-Team All-Patriot League member, Giles-Madden went a perfect 6-0 at No. 3 singles in Patriot League action and 6-1 at No. 2 doubles. Beehler was 7-0 in both singles and doubles in Patriot League play.
Patriot League Tournament runner-up Bucknell placed sophomore Paulina Gamboa, along with Varela, on the First-Team All-Patriot League squad and sophomore Ashley Globerman on the Second-Team. Gamboa notched a 6-1 record in the Patriot League at No. 2 singles, while Globerman owned a 5-2 record, seeing action at both No. 3 and 4 singles.
Colgate's All-Patriot League members included senior Jackie Couture (First-Team) and freshman Elise Derose and Samantha Inacker (Second-Team). Couture, the 2006 Patriot League Player of the Year and three-time All-Patriot League selection, went 7-11 (2-3 PL) during the spring at No. 1 singles and 8-10 (3-2 PL) in doubles action. February's Patriot League Player of the Month Derose posted a 10-9 overall and 2-3 Patriot League record in singles play and went 7-8 (3-2 PL) in doubles competition. Inacker posted winning Patriot League records in both singles (4-1) and doubles (3-2) action.
Lehigh landed two student-athletes on this year's All-Patriot League Team with senior Gwen Dwyer earning First-Team status and freshman Julie Arthofer being named to the Second-Team. Dwyer is a three-time All-Patriot League selection and went 10-9 overall at No. 1 singles and 5-14 at first doubles. Arthofer went 3-1 in Patriot League singles competition and 9-10 overall.
Danielle Bailey of Lafayette was voted Second-Team All-Patriot League. The senior Leopard posted an 8-7 singles record and 6-7 doubles mark this spring.
2007 Patriot League Women's Tennis All-League Team
First-Team
Player, School (Cl.)
Niki Flach, Army (So.)
Brooke Jones, Army (So.)
Paulina Gamboa, Bucknell (So.)
Tania Varela, Bucknell (Fr.)
Jackie Couture, Colgate (Sr.)
Gwen Dwyer, Lehigh (Sr.)
Second-Team *
Player, School (Cl.)
Kristin Beehler, Army (Fr.)
Sarah Giles-Madden, Army (So.)
Ashley Globerman, Bucknell (So.)
Elise Derose, Colgate (Fr.)
Samantha Inacker, Colgate (Fr.)
Danielle Bailey, Lafayette (Sr.)
Julie Arthofer, Lehigh (Fr.)
Player of the Year Niki Flach, Army
Rookie of the Year Tania Varela, Bucknell
Coach of the Year Paul Peck, Army
* - Due to ties in voting there are seven members on the Second-Team.
