Michaela Bayerlova Named Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year
PULLMAN, Wash. -- Washington State fifth-year senior Michaela Bayerlova has been selected as the 2022 Pac-12 Women's Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the conference office announced Wednesday.
The achievement was announced in-person at the Pac-12 Tennis Championships in Ojai, Calif., hours before the Cougars were set to take on Washington in the first round.
Bayerlova, from Krumbach, Germany, is no stranger to academic awards, as she is also a President's Honor Roll recipient, three-time Pac-12 All-Academic winner, and a four-time ITA All-Academic Achievement member. Last week, she was named as WSU's Top 10 Senior Award recipient for Athletics.
The fifth year is in the midst of one of her best seasons in the crimson and gray yet, with an overall singles record of 17-2 and 7-1 in conference play. She has also put together a doubles record of 13-9 overall and 4-3 in conference play.
Holding a national ranking of No. 43, Bayerlova heads into the Pac-12 Championships winning nine of her last 10 singles matches, six of which were against nationally ranked players. After the season, she will have finished each of her five seasons with a national ranking, with her high being No. 17 during her sophomore campaign.
She is also coming off a recent Pac-12 Women's Tennis Player of the Week honor, the conference announced April 12. This was the fifth time she had received the distinction in her career, which is the most by a Cougar tennis player in school history.
Bayerlova's career statistics line up among WSU's all-time greats, accounting for 90 career singles wins, the seventh most in school history, and 75 doubles victories. Those 165 total wins are the eighth-most in program history. Her victories have not come easy, having lined up at No. 1 in every collegiate singles dual match in her career. Her hard-earned wins have not gone unnoticed, being selected to the All-Pac-12 team three times, earning first team honors in both 2018 and 2019.
Bayerlova stands alone as the only student-athlete in program history to be named to the Pac-12 first team, while also only being the lone WSU player to win a match at the NCAA Singles Championship.
Outside of competing as a Cougar, Bayerlova has won five professional tournament titles since her freshman season and currently holds a career-high world ranking of 512.
In order to be eligible for the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, student-athletes must be a senior (in athletics eligibility) on track to receive a degree, have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher, participate in at least 50 percent of the scheduled contests in the sport and have a minimum one year in residence at the institution. Each Pac-12 institution may nominate one individual per sport, and the winners are selected by a committee of Pac-12 staff members at the conclusion of each sport's regular season. The athletics accomplishments of the nominees are a consideration in voting for the award.