Kansas City, MO - The accolades continue to pour in for Tomomi Nagao as she was announced as an All-American first teamer Tuesday morning. After a campaign in which Nagao helped UC claim their first conference title in over 20 years and winning the Mid-South Conference Player of the Year award, she tallies her fourth All-American honor of her career.

Tomomi finds herself named a member of the All-American First Team for the second time during her time as a Patriot to finish off the most decorated career in program history. Nagao made sure to end her career on a high note, having her best season during the 2021-22 campaign. The native of Gifu, Japan set a new career best in both singles and doubles play, winning 23 matches when going solo while tallying 17 victories when working in tandem with the vast majority of those wins coming in the top spot.

"Tomomi is leaving behind a legacy that will be hard to beat," said head coach Chin Tan "Not only is it her wins that makes it a legacy, but how she's helped us establish the program in the NAIA. We went to the national tournament every year she was here for a reason."

Nagao faced some stiff competition during the year as she faced three players ranked in the top 50 in the NAIA per the ITA and came out on top in all three. She was able to help the Patriots win more often than not when going up against ranked teams as well, going 12-5 against opponents receiving votes or better with a perfect 9-0 mark in singles. Tomomi's efforts were just as good when tasked with MSC competition as she went 9-0 in singles and 8-2 in conference games, helping her claim the conference's top honors.

"She's worked so hard and been an inspiration to many of the younger girls we have. She has set the tone and made it to where we have players who want to be just like her." - head coach Chin Tan

Along with her being named an All-American, Nagao was named the Mid-South Player of the Year for the second time in as many years to become the first Patriot's women's tennis player to do so while being award a spot on the All-MSC First Team for the fourth time in her career. She also found herself ranked by the ITA throughout the year with her checking in at 19 in both singles and doubles to begin the season while climbing as high as 10 in singles and 17 in doubles.

For the latest and most up-to-date information on University of the Cumberlands Athletics, please visit www.cumberlandspatriots.com. Follow us on Twitter- @UC_Patriots and @UCPatsGameday, Instagram- @UCPatriots, YouTube- Cumberlands Patriots, and Facebook by searching University of the Cumberlands Athletics.