Three Cougars and Anastopoulo Receive All-CAA Honors
4/15/2015 10:05:00 PM | Women's Tennis
CHARLESTON, S.C. – College of Charleston women's tennis placed three of its members on the 2015 All-CAA Women's Tennis First Team and veteran coach Angelo Anastopoulo was named the CAA Women's Tennis Coach of the Year, the Colonial Athletic Association announced Wednesday evening.
“It certainly is a surprise to be honored by my fellow coaches,” Anastopoulo said. “I thought that as a team we struggled early in the season but I have been very happy with our overall improvement, especially throughout our conference schedule. I am very humbled and honored by this award.”
Under Anastopoulo, the team amassed a 12-12 season record, while playing a challenging schedule that included seven nationally ranked opponents. After opening its conference slate with a loss to No. 55 William & Mary, the Cougars reeled off four straight CAA victories over Delaware, UNC Wilmington, Elon and James Madison.
Anastopoulo has been a fixture in CofC tennis, spending 24 years at the helm of women's tennis while also acting as the director of tennis for the last 13 years. Anastopoulo served a 10-year stint as the men's tennis coach from 1991-2001. He has been honored as the conference coach of the year in three different leagues (CAA, SoCon, TAAC) at the Division I level.
Three of Anastopoulo's squad have also recognized by the conference on Wednesday. Senior Samantha Maddox garnered first-team All-CAA honors in singles after having been named the CAA Women's Tennis Player of the Week on Mar. 24. The Lexington, Ky. native has compiled 10 wins on the season, with seven coming at the No. 1 spot. Maddox blossomed as a player in March and has triumped in eight of her last 10 matches. This is the second all-conference honor of the senior's career; she was named to the All-SoCon Second Team as a freshman.
Senior Jenny Falcone and junior Katherine Schofield were named to the All-CAA First Team for doubles. The pair, who are currently ranked 79th in the country in the latest ITA poll, have had a banner year with highlights that include defeating the No. 1 doubles team in the nation and being named the CAA Women's Tennis Doubles Team of the Week three times, with back-to-back accolades on Apr. 7 and Apr. 14. Falcone and Schofield have racked up a 12-7 record in 2015 and will enter the CAA Championships on a six-match win streak.
A star in the classroom as well as on the court, Falcone was also named to the CAA All-Academic Team. The Davidson, N.C. has been named an ITA Scholar-Athlete in 2012 and 2014 and will graduate with a degree in Marketing in May.
College of Charleston earned the second seed in the conference tournament and will face No. 7 Drexel on Friday at noon in Williamsburg, Va. Fans can keep up with all the action by following the Colonial Athletic Association on Twitter @caasports or Instagram @caasports. Visit the conference website for highlights, live scoring and recaps.
