ATTLEBORO, Mass.- Four out of the five New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women's tennis programs were represented on the  2009 All-NECC  Women's Tennis Team and NECC major awards, announced today by Commissioner Del Malloy. In addition to the all-conference team, three major individual award winners and the team sportsmanship award winner will be recognized at the first day of the 2009 NECC Championships.

Bay Path College senior Julia Bendzin (Poestenkill, N.Y.) received top honors, as she was named NECC Player of the Year.  Bendzin is a four-year member of the Wildcats' tennis team and is set to graduate this spring with a degree in Forensic Science.  Bendzin was named NECC Player of the Week twice for Bay Path. She currently  has a 7-0 singles record in the NECC and 7-0 in conference doubles action. Overall Bendzin has a perfect 11-0 #1 singles record and 9-2 #1 doubles record.

 The NECC Rookie of the Year went to sophomore Laura Mimms (Ashland, Mass.) from Becker College. The Hawks' first year student-athlete is a Psychology major.  Mimms has a 12-4 overall record and 6-1 in conference play at the #2 singles position. In doubles play, she is 11-3 overall and 6-1 in the NECC at the #1 and #2 doubles positions.

Becker College's David Bostick was honored as 2009 NECC Women's Tennis Coach of the Year. The Hawks are currently 12-5 on the season and 6-1 in the NECC. They are vying for the 2009 NECC Women's Tennis Champion Title upon completion of their final NECC match against Bay Path to determine the current tie-break for the top position.

The Newbury College Nighthawks led by first year head coach Jeremy Glenn were named the 2009 NECC Women's Tennis Team Sportsmanship recipients. The Nighthawks finished third in the conference standings with a 4-4 overall record and are 7-8 overall for the 2009 campaign.

Voting for the All-NECC team and each of the major awards was conducted among NECC  women's tennis coaches.

Joining Bendzin and Mimms on the first team for singles was Becker's junior Danielle Stryker (Ledyard, Conn.), Path's sophomore Sarah Costa (Tiverton, R.I.), Bay Path's junior Caroline Ynguanzo (Springfield, Mass.) and Lesley's sophomore Courtney Mullen (Springfield, Ore.).

Two doubles teams' were also chosen to the first team for the NECC; Becker's Stryker and sophomore Shauna McNally (Worcester, Mass.) and Bendzin and junior Kara Fox (Biddeford, Maine) .

Four student-athletes received honorable mention including; Newbury's sophomore Kristen Connors (Riverside, R.I.), Bay Path's Fox, Becker's senior Sarah Ryzewski (Spencer, Mass.) and Lesley's junior Michelle Side (Miller Place, N.Y.).

The Lynx' freshman tandem Brenna Donovan (Hingham, Mass.) and Nicole Smith (Rindge, N.H.) were honored as honorable mention doubles.

To Download PDF: http://www.neccathletics.com/sports/wten/2009-10/files/2009_NECC_Women-s_Tennis_All-Conference.pdf

2009 NECC Women's Tennis First Team All-Conference Singles
2009 NECC Women's Tennis First Team All-Conference Doubles
2009 NECC Women's Tennis All-Conference Honorable Mention Singles
2009 NECC Women's Tennis All-Conference Honorable Mention Doubles
2009 NECC Women's Tennis Team Sportsmanship Award Recipients