Williamsburg, KY – After playing pivotal roles in their team's success throughout the month, Patriots tennis player Tomomi Nagao and leftfielder Ray Villanueva have been selected as the April Athletes of the Month presented by Appalachian Wireless, the athletic department announced Wednesday. The University of the Cumberlands Athletic Department in conjunction with their corporate partner Appalachian Wireless are presenting the "Appalachian Wireless Athletes of the Month", which will be award to one male and one female student-athlete each month.

Nagao was named the female athlete of the month honors after going undefeated on the month tallying a 7-0 record at #1 singles and a 7-0 record at #1 doubles.  The senior notched six of her seven wins in straight sets as she opened the month with three-straight conference wins.  Nagao than notched a 6-3, 6-0 win over Batja Dusele of (RV) Marian before closing out the regular season with a win against the Tigers.  In the MSC Tournament, the Gifu, Japan native faced a pair of ranked opponents defeated #42 Oriana Espinoza of Campbellsville 6-1, 6-3 and #39 Alexandra Parra of Lindsey Wilson 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 to secure the match point as the Patriots took down the eighth-ranked Blue Raiders.  Nagao also shined in doubles teaming with Johanna Beckmann for a 7-0 mark.  The tandem limited their opponent to one or fewer points in five of those seven matches.  Nagao, the MSC Player of the Year, led the Patriots to their first MSC Tournament title in school history.

Villanueva earned the male athlete of the month honors after a stellar month that included hitting .407 with 20 extra base hits, and 27 RBI's.  Villanueva tallied 11 multi-hit games and had six multi-RBI games on the month.  The senior outfielder went 3-3, including a triple, with three runs scored in the series finale against Campbellsville.  That spark a streak where the Buena Park, CA native tallied multiple hits in five of the next six games.  Against Union on April 12^th, Villanueva went 3-4 with a triple and a homerun, while driving in three runs.  The following week, the senior led the Patriots going 4-5 with a pair of homers and a season-high six RBI and three run scored in the win over Midway.  He followed that up blasting a pair of homers against Alice Lloyd.   Villanueva closed out the month with two more multi-hit games, helping Cumberlands go 18-3 on the month, including an 11-2 record in conference play as UC earned the #2 seed in the MSC Tournament.

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