Petrini Selected to AAC All-Conference Team
May 01 | Women's Tennis
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (May 1, 2014) - Senior co-captain Vanessa Petrini (Stamford, Conn.), of the Rutgers women's tennis team, was named to the American Athletic Conference All-Conference Team, the league announced Thursday. Petrini was one of 12 student-athletes selected from the conference's 10 member schools to receive the distinction.
"Congratulations to Vanessa," said head coach Ben Bucca, Jr. "This is a fitting award for her outstanding senior year. It is a great honor for her personally, as well as a great honor for our program to have a player selected to the all-conference team."
"I'm extremely happy and honored to have been selected for the all-conference team," said Petrini. "I want to thank my team and my coaches, because I wouldn't have been able to do it without them, and have such a successful season. I'm glad to be able to represent Rutgers University."
Petrini finished her final campaign "On the Banks," tying for second on the team in singles victories with 14, having played all her matches at the No. 1 slot. In doubles action, Petrini logged 10 victories in 2014.
The senior helped guide the Scarlet Knights to a thrilling come-from-behind, 4-2, victory over fourth-seeded Louisville in the American Athletic Conference quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals. The win over the then-No. 56 Cardinals marked RU's first win over a ranked opponent on the year.
Petrini downed Louisville's Julia Fellerhoff, 6-3, 6-0 in the upset.
Rutgers fell to then-No. 32 and first-ranked Houston, 4-0, in the American semis. The loss snapped an eight-match winning streak for RU. The Scarlet Knights concluded the season by winning 13 of their final 15 contests and compiled a 16-5 overall record, going 3-1 in regular season conference matches.
American Athletic Conference Player of the Year
Loreto Alonso-Martinez, Sr., USF
American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year
Despoina Vogasari, Houston
American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year
Patrick Sullivan, Houston
All-Conference Team
Elena Kordolaimi, Jr., Houston*
Tina Rupert, Fr., Houston
Despoina Vogasari, Fr., Houston*
Julia Fellerhoff, Sr., Louisville
Rebecca Shine, Sr., Louisville
Marta Morgan, Fr., Memphis
Anki Wind, Fr., Memphis
Vanessa Petrini, Sr., Rutgers
Loreto Alonso-Martinez, Sr., USF *
Olaya Garrido-Rivas, Fr., USF*
Kayla Rizzolo, Sr., USF
Dasha Sharapova, Fr., SMU
*unanimous selection
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-RU-
