Bowling Green, KY - Two days before their quarterfinal matchup in the MSC Tournament, Cumberlands ends up garnering some of the biggest awards the MSC hands out. The Patriots had four players named as All-Conference selections with Tomomi Nagao and Meiri Okuwaki making it as first teamers while Johanna Beckmann was named to the Second Team and Hana Shimeno making it as an Honorable Mention. UC ended up taking things one step further with Nagao winning the MSC Player of the Year award while Meiri Okuwaki won Freshman of the Year honors and Dev Sivam being named the conference's Assistant Coach of the Year.
Nagao is now the only Patriot women's tennis player to win multiple Mid-South Player of the Year awards, winning it in back-to-back seasons.Tomomi has solidified herself as the most accomplished player in program history during the season, becoming the all-time leader in singles wins with 70 and being the only player to have 50 wins or more in both singles and doubles. The native of Gifu, Japan put on a show during singles play as she went 20-1 on the season with a 10-0 mark in conference, exclusively playing as the team's #1. She was no slouch in doubles either, ending the regular season 16-8 when playing in tandem en route to her fourth nod as a MSC All-Conference First Team member.
"This is a well-deserved honor for her," said head coach Chin Tan "she's the hardest working player in our program's history and she deserves everything she gets."
Meiri Okuwaki ended up making a big splash in her first collegiate season as she was also named to the All-MSC First Team while taking home the conference's Freshman of the Year award. Meiri was excellent in both doubles and singles play, holding a record of 35-7 overall while playing some of her best tennis of late with an eight-match win streak in singles while winning each of her last 11 decisions in doubles heading into the postseason. The freshman was dominant against tough competition as well as she finished the regular season 8-3 against ranked opponents.
"Meiri has raised her level of competitiveness since she reached campus. She's been very exciting to watch this season and I look forward to seeing what she does going forward." - head coach Chin Tan.
For the second time in as many years, Johanna Beckmann was named a second teamer on her way to setting a new career-high in doubles wins with 17. Beckmann mainly worked out of the #3 spot in doubles before pairing up with Nagao for the final five doubles matches of the year, going 5-0 in those contests. Johanna got off to a hot start playing tandem with her winning eight of her first 10 decisions before closing out the season strong with five consecutive wins. The native of Germany had her way with MSC opponents for the majority of the season with her going 15-5 on the year in conference play combined while winning her last six bouts in singles and five in doubles.
Hana Shimeno found her way onto an all-conference list for the second time in her career as she was named a Mid-South All-Conference Honorable Mention. Shimeno ended up playing a big part in the Patriot's success as her efforts bolstered the back end of the team's lineup, showing how deep UC is. Hana finished the season with a record of 17-4 in singles, winning each of her last seven matches. Shimeno was no slouch when up against Mid-South competition, going 8-1 in conference play.
The Patriot's awards recipients extended past their players as assistant coach Dev Sivam was named the conference's Assistant Coach of Year. Coach Sivam has been coaching at UC for the past five years and has seen over 20 All-Conference selections, seven All-Americans, and now four MSC Player of the Year honorees. Under his instruction the women's tennis program has posted a record of 64-32 while winning the MSC Regular Season Championship once in 2021.His presence has made major impact in each of the past two campaigns with the team playing their way to a record of 39-9 during that span while consistently being ranked in the NAIA top-25.
"Dev has been a key component to the success of our teach ever since he began coaching," said head coach Chin Tan when discussing his assistant "He has always done his job well because he is professional. This award pays justice for his hard work."
The Patriots will return to the courts on Friday in their quarterfinals matchup of the Mid-South Conference Tournament. As the two-seed, Cumberlands received a first round bye with them now awaiting the winner of Georgetown and Freed-Hardeman with the Patriots set to play at 3:00 p.m. at Buchanon Park in Bowling Green, KY.
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