May 4, 2011
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Texas A&M senior women's tennis player Morgan Frank was presented the Cindy Churchwell Aggie Heart Award, and junior Sheri Olivier was honored with the team's Spirit Award prior to the NCAA Selection Show on Tuesday.
Frank (Oldsmar, Fla.) recently became the first player in Big 12 Conference history to capture four women's tennis individual singles titles after leading the league in wins at the No. 2 line with a 10-1 record this season. It was her conference-record-tying fifth overall individual title.
Frank is 25-7 overall this season in singles, including 19-4 in dual matches, all at the No. 2 line. In addition, the fiery competitor is undefeated in home matches the last two seasons, going 11-0 at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center this season to extend her home winning streak to 20.
The team's most coveted award is named after former Aggie standout Cindy Churchwell, who was the first recipient of the honor in1990-91.
"Cindy Churchwell O'Donovan was such an inspiration with the heart she displayed on the court," A&M head coach Bobby Kleinecke said. "It's really ironic that Cindy lost only five conference matches in her career, and here Morgan has a similar record of success, so Morgan is very deserving of that award. Every time we took the court, Morgan laid her heart out there and you could read everything that she was showing. She wore her emotions on her sleeve, and she was fun to watch because of that reason."
A two-time Academic All-Big 12 First Team selection, Olivier (Topeka, Kan.) is 8-6 at the No. 3 doubles line and 15-10 overall.
"Whether she was on the court or off the court, Sheri did a great job this year of supporting and encouraging the team," Kleinecke said. "At some point, I'll name the award after Sarah Foster (2006-07), because of the spirit she showed and the fire that she had on the court and off the court. You could always hear her. Sheri is the exact same way. You always know when Sheri is around. You can hear her when she is winning a point. And when she is off the court, it doesn't matter if she is disappointed that she isn't in playing, she is just as loud supporting her teammates."
David Bilbo, a professor in the Department of Construction Science at Texas A&M, was presented the team's Fan of the Year award.
"David has been to all the men's and women's home matches for a number of years and has been a big fan of ours," Kleinecke said. "I think he missed one match this year, and that was because his daughter was playing at Mary Hardin Baylor that day. He has been such a big fan of both programs, but he also helped Morgan through a lot of matches, just supporting her from his courtside seat in the Stadium Club. I know Morgan appreciates his support a lot."
The winner of the P.D. Gandy award, which goes to the player who compiles the most singles and doubles victories, is still to be determined and will be presented at a later date as the Aggies received an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships and will host first and second rounds May 14-15, at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
The Aggies (15-8) face former Southwest Conference foe SMU on Saturday, May 14, at noon. In the preceding first-round match, No. 12 seed Florida State and Southern University will meet at 9 a.m.
The winners advance to the second round, to be played Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Mitchell Tennis Center. The second-round winner advances to the Round of 16 to be played at Stanford University's Taube Tennis Center in Stanford, Calif., beginning May 20.
Tickets can be purchased in advance at 12thManFoundation.com.