Rutgers Women's Tennis Holds Annual Awards Banquet
May 02 | Women's Tennis
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Junior Katrina Elder-Bush (Boston, Mass.) was named the women's tennis Most Valuable Player for the 2006-07 season at the team's annual banquet on May 1 at the Rutgers Club.
Elder-Bush, who earned the MVP honor for the third-straight season, played first singles in all the Scarlet Knights' contests this year, leading RU to an 8-15 record. She finished the season on an eight-match win streak, compiling a 15-6 mark on the year, including an 11-1 ledger against BIG EAST competition.
The Scarlet Knights closed out the season at the BIG EAST Championships in Tampa, Fla. RU faced No. 5 seed West Virginia in the first round, posting a 4-2 victory over the Mountaineers on April 19. The upset came after Rutgers fell, 6-1, in the regular-season dual match between the two squads.
"It was the common bond with this team," said head coach Ben Bucca at the banquet. "Somehow, someway, at the culmination of our season, in the biggest event, we came out with an attitude of cohesiveness and enjoyment. We just knew we were going to win that match with West Virginia. The way we ended this season was on the highest note that a team could possibly end on."
Rutgers, which competed in 10 matches decided by one point this season, continued its doubles success, going 13-10 against opponents in doubles.
In addition to success on the court, the Scarlet Knights participated in a number of community activities, including donating tennis balls to the Alexander Graham Bell Society and the Challah Bread Foundation.
The tennis balls donated were used to eliminate noise interference for the deaf children with Cochlear Implants. The balls are placed on the legs of desks and chairs in classrooms to minimize the scratching crated by furniture movement. Gary Kirsch, president of the Alexander Graham Bell Society, and his daughter, Emma, came to the Rutgers tennis courts to demonstrate the implant's technology and to give the team the opportunity to meet Emma, who is deaf. With the help of the tennis balls, Emma is able to attend public school in Piscataway, N.J.
Also, members of the team participated in deliver challah to cancer patients on the oncology floor at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J. The Challah Bread Fund, founded in 1994, provides an anonymous gift of challah, which promotes healing, to patients battling cancer.
For the second consecutive season, the Scarlet Knights were named All-Academic status by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA). Rutgers is one of 93 teams to earn the award. The ITA awards any member team all-academic honors for obtaining a cumulative team grade point average of 3.20 or above.
