The University of Mississippi Athletics
Van de Stroet , Vogel Earn ITA Southern Regional Awards
5/13/2011 | Women's Tennis
May 13, 2011
OXFORD, Miss. - For the second straight year, the Ole Miss women's tennis team grabbed three Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Southern Regional Awards.
Connor Vogel earned the Senior Player of the Year Award as well as the Arthur Ashe Jr., Sportsmanship and Leadership Award, while fellow senior Laura van de Stroet received the Cissie Leary Award for Sportsmanship.
"We are proud of Connor and Laura for being recognized with these awards," head coach Mark Beyers said. "Both Arthur Ashe, Jr., and Cissie Leary gave so much to the game of tennis, so it's a tremendous honor to be mentioned in the same sentence with them. Connor and Laura are outstanding student-athletes and representatives of the University of Mississippi."
The Arthur Ashe Jr. Award recognizes someone who has exhibited excellent sportsmanship and leadership as well as scholastic, extracurricular and tennis achievements.
Vogel, a native of Germantown, Tenn., played a big role in Ole Miss winning the SEC West Championship and advancing to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen last year. She went 9-1 in the SEC and earned All-SEC honors. As a team captain this year, Vogel earned All-SEC honors again. Off the court, Vogel is an ITA Scholar-Athlete, a member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll and a regular on the University Honor Roll.
The Cissie Leary Award for Sportsmanship goes to a women's player who displays inspiring dedication and commitment to her team, which has enhanced her team's performance and exemplified the spirit of college tennis.
Van de Stroet has been a leader for the team on and off the courts. The Holland native played a huge role in the Rebels' success in 2010. She posted a combined 35-8 dual match record in singles and doubles and earned All-SEC second team honors. This year, van de Stroet stepped up to help lead the Rebels to their third straight NCAA appearance. An outstanding student-athlete, van de Stroet boasts a 3.86 grade point average in Marketing. She is an ITA Scholar-Athlete, a member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll and a member of the Chancellor's Honor Roll every semester.
Cissie Leary was a legendary women's tennis coach at the University of Pennsylvania who passed away in 1996 at the age of 42 after a lengthy battle with scleroderma. During her illustrious 20-year career, Leary made a name for herself as one of the most respected tennis coaches in the nation while propelling the Penn women's tennis program and the Ivy League as a whole to national prominence.
Both Vogel and van de Stroet will take part in a special graduation ceremony next Tuesday, honoring those student-athletes who are competing away from Oxford this weekend.
The Rebels are in Atlanta, Ga., where they will face Arizona State Saturday at 8 a.m. CT in the first round of the NCAA Championships.
