Pac-12 announces women's tennis 2019 postseason honors

WOMEN’S SINGLES PLAYER OF THE YEAR: MICHAELA GORDON, STANFORD
WOMEN’S FRESHMAN/NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: ELYSIA BOLTON, UCLA
WOMEN’S DOUBLES TEAM OF THE YEAR: ILZE HATTINGH & LAURYN JOHN-BAPTISTE, ASU
WOMEN’S COACH OF THE YEAR: ROBIN STEPHENSON, WASHINGTON

SAN FRANCISCO – The Pac-12 Conference announced today the Pac-12 women’s tennis honors and All-Conference teams for the 2019 season, as determined by a polling of the Conference coaches. Stanford’s Michaela Gordon was voted Pac-12 Singles Player of the Year, UCLA’s Elysia Bolton was tabbed Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year, and Arizona State’s Lauryn John-Baptiste and Ilze Hattingh earn Pac-12 Doubles Team of the Year. Washington head coach Robin Stephenson earns her first Pac-12 Coach of the Year honor. 

PAC-12 SINGLES PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Michaela Gordon, So., Stanford (Saratoga, Calif.)
A year after winning Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the year, Gordon claims the Pac-12 Singles Player of the Year honor. She is only the third-student athlete to be awarded Singles Player of the Year just one year after winning Freshman/Newcomer of the Year. Last year, she also won Pac-12 Doubles Team of the Year with her partner Emily Arbuthnot. Now with Freshman/Newcomer, Singles and Doubles Player of the Year honors to her credit, Gordon is only the second student-athlete ever to win all three major Pac-12 postseason honors (the other being Robin Anderson, UCLA, 2011-15). The No. 24 ITA nationally-ranked singles player, she earns Stanford’s 15th all-time Singles Player of the Year honor after posting a 22-9 record this year in the top-two spots. Gordon has won her last seven matches, six of which were against ranked opponents, only dropping a single set in that span. She compiled 11 victories over ranked opponents this year, highlighted by a victory over Syracuse’s No. 14 ranked Gabriela Knutson on Sunday to help lead Stanford to the NCAA super regionals. She led the Cardinal to its third-consecutive Pac-12 Women's Tennis Championship title and its fourth-straight NCAA Tournament automatic bid. She looks to help No. 3-seeded Stanford defend its NCAA title and capture its 20th all-time. Gordon was also the Pac-12’s automatic qualifier for the NCAA singles championship.

PAC-12 FRESHMAN/NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Elysia Bolton, Fr., UCLA (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.)
UCLA’s No. 32 nationally ranked freshman was named Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year after posting an impressive 26-12 record at the top-two singles courts. Bolton is the eighth Bruin all-time to earn the honor. Bolton claimed a team-high 10 victories over nationally-ranked opponents, including a victory over the top-ranked singles player in the country, Miami’s Estela Perez-Somarriba, at the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships. She also took down a ranked LSU opponent on court two on Sunday to claim a spot for No. 7-seed UCLA in the NCAA super regionals. Bolton has been dominant with doubles partner Jada Hart, going 28-7 on the season and winning nine of their last 10 matches. UCLA’s top doubles team currently ranks 11th in the nation. Bolton earned an at-large bid for both the NCAA singles and doubles championship.

PAC-12 DOUBLES TEAM OF THE YEAR: Ilze Hattingh, Jr., (Pretoria, South Africa) and Lauryn John-Baptiste, So., (London, England), Arizona State
Hattingh and John-Baptiste are the first Arizona State duo all-time to win the Pac-12 Doubles Team of the Year. The fourth-ranked doubles team in the nation has compiled a 20-6 record. They have been ranked among the top-seven doubles team in the country all eight weeks of the spring season (since February 20) and were the No. 1 doubles team in the nation for two of those weeks. The international duo took down the country’s current top doubles team, USC’s Angela Kulikov and Rianna Valdes, in a dual match on March 9. They helped ASU reach the second round of the NCAA team tournament, and also earned the No. 3 seed in the NCAA doubles bracket, starting May 20 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando. Hattingh is a parks and recreation management major while John-Baptiste is majoring in family and human development.

PAC-12 COACH OF THE YEAR: Robin Stephenson, Washington
In her fifth year at the helm of the Washington program, Stephenson was named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year after leading the Huskies to a historic season. With a NCAA second round win over Princeton on Saturday, the Huskies improved to 21-4 on the season, matching the most program wins since 1987. The Huskies reached the NCAA super regionals for the first time since 2009. Earning the No. 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Huskies hosted the first two rounds for the first time since 2004 and only the fourth time in program history. Washington finished the regular season tied for second and reached the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals for the first time ever.

2019 ALL-PAC-12 TEAM

FIRST TEAM

SECOND TEAM

HONORABLE MENTION: Anna Bright, CAL; Ayan Broomfield, UCLA; Brianna Chisholm, UTAH; Sedona Gallagher, WASH; Kenadi Hance, WASH; Olivia Hauger, CAL; Lauryn John-Baptiste, ASU; Angela Kulikov, USC; Tiffany Mylonas, WSU; Sara Nayar, COLO; Emma Wilson, ARIZ.