Milewski & Esposito Earn All-Big 12 Tennis
IRVING, Texas - University of Colorado seniors Monica Milewski and Melisa Esposito were named to the 2010 All-Big 12 tennis team in a vote by the league's head coaches, the conference office announced Wednesday.
The All-Big 12 tennis teams are selected by the league's head coaches, who are not allowed to vote for their own student-athletes.
Perhaps the most successful women's tennis student-athlete in CU history, Milewski became the first CU male or female tennis athlete to earn three Big 12 Conference singles honors. She earned conference accolades in 2010, 2008, and 2007. Milewski was also named all-conference doubles with Esposito in 2010, to go with her doubles distinction in 2008 (with Camila Belassi).
Esposito made the All-Big 12 doubles team for the second straight year after being selected to the 2009 team with Belassi.
Milewski has five All-Big 12 Conference honors (three singles, two doubles), while Esposito and Belassi have earned a pair of doubles honors. All three graduated from CU last Friday (May 7).
The previous record for career singles and doubles all-conference honors was held by Jessica Garrow (1997-2000) and Dominique Lemperle (2000-2003) with four (two singles and two doubles honors each).
Milewski recorded an impressive 8-1 singles record at the No. 1 position in 2010, including three wins over ranked opponents. She is currently ranked No. 60 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) top-125 poll, and was recently named an alternate (No. 3 overall) to participate at the 2010 NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Singles Championships in Athens, Ga. (May 20-25).
Esposito and Milewski teamed up only twice during the Spring 2010 conference season going 1-1. The CU pair upset Texas' No. 51 ranked duo of Aerial Ellis and Krista Corovic. The doubles win helped the Buffaloes clinch the point over the Longhorns and secured the school doubles record for victories in a career with 77. Esposito/Milewski both share the school mark.
Overall, Esposito won a total of six conference doubles matches with four different teammates, while Milewski won three matches with two teammates.