Dawson, McManigle, Clark & Head Coach Amy Bryant Win ITA Regional Awards

Three members of the third-ranked Emory University women's tennis team – junior Zahra Dawson, senior Lorne McManigle, and freshman Gabrielle Clark – and head coach Amy Bryant were each presented with Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) NCAA Division III Atlantic South Region awards for the 2010-11 season.

Dawson was named the Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award winner for the Atlantic South Region.  The award considers a player's tennis playing accomplishments and scholastic and extracurricular achievements.  Just as Arthur Ashe was a great player and a great humanitarian, this award recognizes players who excelled on the court and off the court during their college careers. Sportsmanship, leadership and character are also an important consideration.  Dawson became the fifth Emory player to win the award on the regional level, joining Debbie Frisk (1991), Jessica Levy (1996), Margaret Moscato (2004) and Carina Alberelli (2005).

This season, Dawson earned all-America honors in singles and doubles play in the fall and all-University Athletic Association (UAA) first team honors for her play in the fourth singles and second doubles.   In addition, she has recorded a 3.84 cumulative grade point average as an Applied Mathematics major.

McManigle was named the region's Senior Player of the Year, which recognizes the player in their last year of athletic eligibility, who has contributed the most to their team in the area of leadership, sportsmanship, tennis performance and tennis improvement during his collegiate career. The 2009 NCAA Division III Singles Champion and three-time all-American is currently ranked 10^th in the region in singles play with a 19-9 record on the season, and fourth in the region in doubles play with a 26-8 this season.  For her career, her 75-42 career singles record gives her the seventh-most victories in school history, and her 87-39 record in doubles action translates to the third-most victories and 19^th-best winning percentage (.690).

McManigle is the third Emory player to win the Atlantic South Region Senior Player of the Year honor, joining Mary Ellen Gordon (2004) and Richelle Marasigan (2007).

Clark earned Atlantic South Region Rookie of the Year honors after becaming just the third player in the UAA's history to earn both Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year awards in the same season.  Clark is the top-ranked singles player in the region with a 22-5 overall record, and ranked fourth in doubles with a 23-9 record this season.  She is the sixth Eagle to win the awards, joining Alexa Wilensky (1997), Emily Warburg (2000), Mary Ellen Gordon (2001), Jolyn Taylor (2003) and Tshema Nash (2007).

Bryant earned the Atlantic South Region Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year honor for the third time of her career, having also won it in 2003 and 2004.  Bryant has led the Eagles to a 21-4 overall record this season and to the team's 21^st NCAA quarterfinals appearances, including its 11^th in her 12 years at the team's helm.

By virtue of winning the regional awards, all four will be eligible for the ITA's National NCAA Division III honors, which will be announced on Thursday, May 26^th.

Emory will return to action on Tuesday, May 24^th in the quarterfinal match of the NCAA Championships against eighth-ranked Washington and Lee University in Claremont, CA.