Mijacika Named ACC Women’s Tennis Player-of-the-Year; Bek Earns All-Conference Honors

April 16, 2009

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Clemson’s Ani Mijacika was named the 2009 Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Tennis Player-of-the-Year, as voted on by the league’s 12 head coaches and announced by the conference office on Wednesday. The Tiger junior was joined on the all-conference team by rookie Josipa Bek as the two give Clemson a powerful combination at the top of the line-up.

Mijacika stands at 28-7 overall in singles play, including a 7-3 mark against ACC foes, and is currently ranked number three in the Campbell/ITA Tennis singles poll. The native of Makarska, Croatia has also spent six weeks as the nation’s top-ranked player this season. She has partnered with Keri Wong to post a 7-2 doubles record in conference play and the duo has moved up to sixth in the doubles rankings with a 12-3 overall record.

Mijacika is the ninth player in Clemson women’s tennis history to earn to the league’s top honor and is the Tigers’ first three-time All-ACC selection since Julie Coin from 2002-05. Coin, who is currently playing on the WTA Tour, was also the Tigers’ most recent player-of-the-year, winning the award in 2004. This is the second major ACC honor for Mijacika, who was named Freshman-of-the-Year in 2007. She has earned player-of-the-week honors three times this season and is a seven-time recipient over her career.

Bek has had an impressive freshman campaign that began with her ITA Southeast Regional Championship title in October and has continued throughout the spring season. She boasts a 30-7 overall record to become just the fourth different player since 1996 to reach the 30-win mark. Bek, who hails from Osijek, Croatia, compiled a 10-1 record against ACC opponents in singles play with an 8-2 doubles record in conference matches with partner Ina Hadziselimovic. She is currently ranked 13th in the ITA Tennis poll.

Miami led the 2009 All-ACC team with four selections while Duke and Georgia Tech each placed three student-athletes on the 18-member team. Hurricane Coach Paige Yaroshuk Tews was named the ACC Coach-of-the-Year after guiding her team to the #1 seed for the upcoming ACC Championships.

Duke’s Mallory Cecil was voted the conference Freshman-of-the-Year after posting a 10-1 record in conference play and a 20-3 overall mark since joining the team in January Two student-athletes from both Florida State and North Carolina were named all-conference, Virgina and Wake Forest each had one player chosen to the team.

2009 All-Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Tennis Team Josipa Bek, Freshman, Clemson Ani Mijacika, Junior, Clemson* Mallory Cecil, Freshman, Duke Ella Nze, Sophomore, Duke* Reka Zsilinszka, Sophomore, Duke* Katie Rybakova, Sophomore, Florida State* Noemie Scharle, Freshman, Florida State Irina Falconi, Freshman, Georgia Tech Noelle Hickey, Sophomore, Georgia Tech Amanda McDowell, Junior, Georgia Tech* Julia Cohen, Sophomore, Miami Bianca Eichkorn, Sophomore, Miami Michaela Kissell, Sophomore, Miami Laura Vallverdu, Junior, Miami* Sanaz Marand, Junior, North Carolina* Katrina Tsang, Junior, North Carolina* Emily Fraser, Freshman, Virginia Sasha Kulikova, Junior, Wake Forest*

Player of the Year: Ani Mijacika, Clemson

Freshman of the Year: Mallory Cecil, Duke

Coach of the Year: Paige Yaroshuk-Tews, Miami

*Denotes repeat All-ACC honoree