COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Rachel Pierson, a sophomore on the Texas A&M women's tennis team, has been named the ITA Texas Region Player to Watch, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced today.
The award is given to the player who is expected to be one of the top returning regional players next year. In addition, the recipient must have been ranked nationally, or if the region does not have a candidate who has achieved a national ranking, must have been ranked regionally.
Pierson is a career-high No. 26 in the nation in singles, making her the highest ranked non-senior singles player in the ITA Texas Region. She also is No. 13 in doubles with freshman partner Eva Paalma and has received a bid to compete in both singles and doubles at the NCAA Individual Championships.
From Princeton, N.J., and in her first season at Texas A&M after playing her freshman year at the University of Virginia, Pierson has played No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles in the majority of the Aggies' dual matches. A member of the All-SEC first team, she leads the Aggies in doubles victories with a 20-10 overall record, and she is second in singles wins with a 22-12 mark, which includes an 11-7 ledger against ranked opponents. Her highest ranked singles win was a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (4) victory over No. 7 Sydney Campbell in the last match standing to clinch A&M's 4-3 win against No. 8 Vanderbilt.
Pierson, instrumental in leading Texas A&M to an 11-2 second-place finish in the powerful SEC, four wins against top-10 opponents and a current No. 10 national ranking, will now be considered for the national honor, to be announced at the ITA Division I national awards luncheon Tuesday, May 19, in Waco, Texas, where the Division I NCAA Championships are being competed.
Pierson and the Aggies (17-5) will be in Waco on Friday to take on No. 7 seed UCLA in the NCAA Women's Tennis Championship round of 16. First serve is at 9 a.m. at the Hurd Tennis Center on the Baylor campus. A link to live scoring and video will be available at 12thMan.com.
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M women's tennis. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M women's tennis team on Twitter by following @AggieWTEN or on Facebook at Facebook.com/AggieWomensTennis.
2015 ITA Texas Region Award Winners:
Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year: Patrick Sullivan, Houston
Assistant Coach of the Year: Alison Ojeda, Baylor
Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sportsmanship & Leadership Award: Ema Burgic, Baylor
Cissie Leary Award for Sportsmanship: Natalie Beazant, Rice
Senior Player of the Year: Ema Burgic, Baylor
Most Improved Player (Senior) of the Year: Simona Parajova, TCU
Player to Watch: Rachel Pierson, Texas A&M
Rookie Player of the Year: Sarah Dvorak, Texas Tech
For the complete list of regional award winners, go to ITATennis.com.
All-Time Texas A&M ITA Region Honors:
Coach of the Year
2014 Howard Joffe
2002 Bobby Kleinecke
Assistant Coach of the Year
2014 Mark Weaver
2004 Alison Ojeda
2001 Callie Creighton
1997 Tim Drain
Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership & Sportsmanship
2011 Stephanie Davidson
2008 Tiffany Clifford
Player to Watch
2015 Rachel Pierson
2010 Nazari Urbina
2002 Jessica Roland
Senior Player of the Year
2014 Cristina Stancu
2013 Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar
2007 Anna Lubinsky
2004 Jessica Roland
2003 Ashley Hedberg
1996 Wilson Pate
1991 Tami Agassi
Rookie Player of the Year
2014 Saska Gavrilovska
Cissie Leary Award for Sportsmanship
2011 Stephanie Davidson (national winner)
1997 Nancy Dingwall