The Boston University women’s tennis team hit the ground running during its first foray in the Patriot League, posting a 14-6 record and defeating nine-time defending champion U.S. Military Academy for the conference championship.
As a result of the BU’s wildly successful season, four Terriers were given major year-end awards on Tuesday.
BU coach Lesley Sheehan was named Patriot League Coach of the Year after leading her team to its 23rd conference title. Sheehan’s Terriers were particularly impressive during the conference tournament, besting their three opponents by a combined score of 13-1.
After finishing going 13-4 in singles during the season and capturing the Patriot League Tournament MVP award, sophomore Johanna Hyoty was named Patriot League Player of the Year. Hyoty, who previously earned the Patriot League Player of the Month award for March, becomes the first Terrier to win a conference Player of the Year award since Stefanie Nunic won the America East Player of the Year Award in 2010.
Hyoty was also named to the First Team All-Patriot League, which also included her classmate Lauren Davis.
Davis, who made it on the First Team for the second consecutive year, finished with a record of 13-4 in singles during the season while also boasting a 7-4 record in No. 2 doubles with freshman Barbara Rodriguez.
Senior Leonie-Charlotte Athanasiadis was named to the Second Team All-Patriot League after posting a 12-6 record in No. 3 singles. This marks the fourth All-Conference award for the Halterm am See, Germany native.
In addition, both Athanasiadis and Hyoty were named to the Patriot League All-Academic team on Monday.
Younan, five other Terriers receive conference honors
The Boston University softball team has been rolling recently with a 13-1 record over its last 14 games and a No. 2 seed in the upcoming Patriot League Tournament.
The Terriers (32-19, 13-5 Patriot League) received another string of good news Wednesday morning, as six members of the team were given conference awards for their contributions this season.
Freshman third baseman Brittany Younan was named Patriot League Rookie of the Year after finishing fifth in the conference with a .389 average with 34 RBI. Younan is the ninth Rookie of the Year in program history and the first since now-senior first baseman Chelsea Kehr received the accolade in 2011.
Three Terriers – senior outfielder Jayme Mask, sophomore pitcher/designated player Lauren Hynes and pitcher Melanie Russell – were named to the Patriot League First Team All-League.
Mask, who led the team with a .399 batting average, was a constant presence at the top of the Terrier lineup, stealing 33 bases on the year.
Hynes contributed in multiple areas for the Terriers, as the San Diego native led the team with a .496 on-base percentage and hit .341 on the year while also pitching her way to a 14-13 record with a 3.54 ERA in the circle.
Russell is coming off the first perfect game of her career, which she hurled against Bucknell May 3. While Russell missed about a month of the season due to injury, she still posted a stellar record of 9-3 with a 2.02 ERA.
Another three Terriers were named to the Patriot League Second Team All-League – Younan, Kehr and freshman outfielder Moriah Connolly.
Kehr led the conference this season with 16 doubles – the second most in program history – while collecting 26 RBI.
Connolly finished the year with a .333 average with 23 stolen bases and five triples.
Mask and Kehr have already received awards earlier this week, as both players were named to the Patriot League All-Academic Team Tuesday. The All-Academic team consists of 12 student-athletes that have earned a 3.20 GPA or higher while also serving as an integral part to their team.
Varapongsittikul named to All-Conference Second Team
The accolades continue for the BU tennis program, as senior Chanon Varapongsittikul, the co-captain of the BU men’s tennis team, was named to the Patriot League All-Conference Second Team Tuesday.
The Bangkok native earned 10 singles wins on the year while also collecting 12 wins in doubles. Teamed up with classmate Jesse Frieder, the duo posted many highlights on the year, including a victory against then-No. 24 Harvard University.
BU women’s track and field captures Patriot League Outdoor Championship
Thanks to several record-breaking performances, the Boston University women’s track and field team won the Patriot League Outdoor Track and Field Championship Saturday at the U.S. Naval Academy’s Ingram Field.
With the victory, the Terriers completed a sweep of conference titles in their first year in the Patriot League. BU captured the cross-country championship in November and earned the indoor crown back in February.
Senior Allison Barwise had an impressive weekend, receiving the Patriot League Field Athlete of the Meet after breaking several school records. The Orange, Conn., native set new records in both the javelin (44.38m) and high jump (1.89m) while finishing first in the heptathlon with 5,628 points, breaking a 24-year-old record of 5,450 points that was set by Miriam Knijn at the 1990 NCAA championships.
Senior Nikko Brady was named Track Athlete of the Meet after finishing first in the 100m hurdles with a time of 13.68 seconds while freshman Toria Levy was chosen as Rookie of the Meet after finishing second in 100m hurdles (14.06 seconds) and was part of a 4×4000 relay team set a conference record time of 3:45:79.
Other notable performances include junior Gemma Acheampong, who set a new school mark with a time of 11.61 seconds in the 100m dash, senior Monica Adler, who finished first in the 1,500m run with a time of 4:24:79 and junior Rosa Moriello, who emerged victorious in the 5,000m run with a time of 16:46:08.
Carson-Banister, Talkow awarded weekly conference awards
While the Boston University men’s lacrosse team was handed a 16-11 loss against No. 3 Duke University, several players had career games against the Blue Devils.
Freshman goalkeeper Christian Carson-Banister was named Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week after recording 25 saves against the Blue Devils (13-3). Carson-Banister’s save tally stands as the most saves recorded by a Division I goalkeeper in a single contest this year. The accolade was the first award in Carson-Banister’s collegiate career.
Freshman midfielder Sam Talkow also had a big showing against Duke, scoring three goals and winning a career-high 16 draws at faceoff X en route to being named Patriot League Rookie of the Week. This was the second time this season that the BU (2-11, 2-6 Patriot League) midfielder has won the Rookie of the Week award.
