Texas Tech University Athletics
Tennis Earns Big 12 Academic Honors
June 21, 1999 | Women's Tennis
DALLAS -- Six Texas Tech women's tennis players who are top performers on the court also are among the elite in the classroom as the league office announces its 82-member Tennis Academic all-Big 12 team Tuesday.
Baylor University placed three women on the first team led by Sophie Goldschmidt. The senior from Wimbledon, England, is a three-year letterwinner for the Bears and has compiled an impressive 21-9 overall record for the 1997-98 season. Nationally-ranked Johann Jooste leads the Baylor men at the No. 1 singles position.
Sophomore Nadine Kenzelmann of the University of Colorado leads five other teammates on the academic team. A native of Sulz, Switzerland, Kenzelmann has recorded a 15-15 record in singles action and is 14-8 in doubles play. Junior Boris Sepesi compiled a 14-12 singles record and an 12-5 doubles mark, including 11-3 at the No. 1 position.
Mollie Racette and Kendra Leese are the two representatives on the academic team from Iowa State University. Leese has seen action at the No. 1 and No. 2 singles positions this spring while Racette has anchored the Cyclones at the No. 6 position.
Two seniors dot the list for the women of the University of Kansas. Christie Sim and Kylie Hunt are both ranked in the top 35 in the nation. Sim claimed the Big 12 title last season at No. 1 singles and at No. 2 doubles. Xavier Avila leads the KU men on this years academic team. A 1997 All-American, he was named Big 12 Player of the Week for the week of March 16-23.
Kansas State University is represented by senior Yana Dorodnova and Elena Piliptchak. Dorodnova, ranked as high as No. 38-nationally, earned Big 12 Player of the Week honors earlier this season after defeating the No. 9 and No. 49 ranked players in one week.
The University of Missouri placed three on the first team including Jamie Hunt, who is one of four women to have a perfect 4.0 grade point average. Junior Luke Woodward heads the list for the Missouri men. Woodward saw action at three different singles positions (No. 1, 2, 3) this season.
Seven women from the University of Nebraska are represented on the '98 academic team. Adriana Dulic, a native of Palic, Yugoslavia, recorded a perfect 4.0 GPA while majoring in accounting. The Nebraska men also placed seven individuals on the team. Dinko Verzi, a junior biochemistry major, led the Huskers at the No. 1 singles spot for the majority of the season.
The University of Oklahoma placed five women on this years academic team paced by Raluca Gheorghe. The junior has defeated seven ranked players this season while obtaining a national ranking as high as No. 30. Rick Warren is the lone male from the 1998 academic team to post a perfect 4.0 GPA. The sophomore saw action at several position this year helping the Sooners to a 12-9 overall record.
Martina Hautova of Oklahoma State University heads the list of women for the Cowgirls. The sophomore business major played at the No. 1 position in singles for OSU the majority of the spring season. The nation's No. 1 ranked player Pavel Kudrnac heads the list of Cowboys on the academic team. Kudrnac, ranked No. 1 in singles and doubles, won the T. Rowe Price Clay Court Championship in singles and the Rolex National Indoors in both singles and doubles.
Nomena Rasolomalala and Janet Walker of the University of Texas are the two representatives on the women's first team. Rasolomalala has been a Commissioner's Honor Roll selection in each of her seven semesters in school. Clayton Stanley, a four-year letterwinnner, is in the final year of UT's prestigious PPA program in accounting and has been on the Athletic Director's honor roll every semester of his college career.
Texas A&M University placed four women on the first team, two of which had 4.0 GPAs. Junior Monica San Miguel, a nutritional science major, and freshman Danielle Lee, a biology major, were the two Aggies with perfect GPAs. Junior Brent Horan and senior Carlos Tori are the two representatives for the A&M men's team.
Texas Tech University placed six women on the list, led by freshman Zana Zlebnik. A native of Maribor, Slovenia, Zlebnik captured several big victories for the Lady Raiders this season including wins over nationally-ranked opponents. Junior Petar Danolic is the lone male representative for TTU.
Nominated by the directors of student-athlete support services and the athletic media relations directors, members of the all-academic teams have posted at least a 3.0 grade point average either cumulative or the previous two academic semesters and regulars, i.e. letterwinners, on their perspective teams. First-team honorees are regulars who have at least a 3.2 grade point average, while those student-athletes with grade point averages of between 3.0 and 3.19 are listed as honorable mention.
This release along with more Big 12 information can be found on the Big 12 internet site at www.big12conf.com. The 1998 Tennis Academic all-Big 12 teams are listed on the following pages.
1998 Women's Tennis Academic All-Big 12 Team
First Team Name, Institution Class Major Hometown Sophie Goldschmidt, Baylor Sr. Economics Surrey, United Kingdom Hortensia Hernandez, Baylor Sr. Psychology Mexico City, Mexico Lauren Spears, Baylor Jr. Social Studies Chillicothe, Texas Sandra Fischer, Colorado Jr. Business Braunschweig, Germany Nadine Kenzelmann, Colorado So. Business Sulz, Switzerland Elissa Edell, Colorado Jr. English St. Louis, Mo. Emily Smith, Colorado Jr. Psychology Warminster, England Kendra Leese, Iowa State So. Elementary Education Bettendorf, Iowa Mollie Racette, Iowa State Sr. Secondary Education Urbandale, Iowa Christie Sim, Kansas Sr. Business Communication Leawood, Kan. Elena Piliptchak, Kansas State Sr. Accounting & Finance Kiev, Ukraine Yana Dorodnova, Kansas State Sr. Social Science Moscow, Russia Andrea Freidman, Missouri Fr. Journalism Omaha, Neb. *Jamie Hunt, Missouri Fr. Pre-Physical Therapy Liberty, Mo. Alexis Payne, Missouri Sr. Art History & Archaeology Columbia, Mo. *Adriana Dulic, Nebraska Sr. Accounting Palic, Yugoslavia Lisa Hart, Nebraska Sr. Elementary Education Sunnyside, Wash. Ndali Ijomah, Nebraska Fr. General Studies Seattle, Wash. Jennifer Thoste, Nebraska Sr. Finance Isernhagen, Germany Kate Dunlevy, Oklahoma Sr. Sociology Oklahoma City, Okla. Raluca Gheorghe, Oklahoma Jr. English Bucharest, Romania Kristin Guilford, Oklahoma So. University Studies Littleton, Colo. Danielle Knipp, Oklahoma Jr. Communication Topeka, Kan. Viviana Mracnova, Oklahoma Fr. University Studies Zvolen, Slavakia Martina Hautova, Oklahoma State So. Business Czech Republic Lenka Humenikova, Oklahoma State Fr. Business Czech Republic Monika Wirthova, Oklahoma State Sr. Business Czech Republic Nomena Rasolomalala, Texas Sr. Marketing Antananarivo, Madagascar Janet Walker, Texas Fr. Spanish Seffner, Fla. Lisa Dingwall, Texas A&M So. General Studies Houston, Texas *Danielle Lee, Texas A&M Fr. Biology Katy, Texas Monica Rebolledo, Texas A&M Sr. Finance Lima, Peru *Monica San Miguel, Texas A&M Jr. Nutritional Science Brownsville, Texas Misty Meyer, Texas Tech Jr. Biology Abilene, Texas Lakshmi Ravindra, Texas Tech So. Political Science Lake City, Fla. Sarada Ravindra, Texas Tech So. Political Science Lake City, Fla. Christine Van Regenmorter, Texas Tech Sr. General Studies Modesto, Calif. Zana Zlebnik, Texas Tech Fr. Pre-Law Maribor, SloveniaHonorable Mention Agnes Bek, Colorado Jr. Business Colorado Springs, Colo. Anna Bek, Colorado Jr. Business Colorado Springs, Colo. Kylie Hunt, Kansas Sr. Sports Management Newcastle, Australia Kelli Clark, Nebraska Fr. General Studies Redlands, Calif. Danica Hardy, Nebraska Fr. Advertising Santa Maria, Calif. Gina Pelazini, Nebraska So. General Studies Rialto, Calif. Erica Dopson, Texas Tech Jr. Family Studies Lubbock, Texas
* 4.0 grade point average
