Williamsburg, KY – After advancing to the second round of the NAIA National Tournament and closing out the season ranked 11^th, their highest ranking in program history, members of the UC women's tennis team garnered a pair of ITA honors, officials announced Thursday.  Tomomi Nagao was named an ITA singles All-American, while Dev Sivam was named the ITA East Region Assistant Coach of the Year.

For Nagao this honor caps off her incredible career with the Patriots as she once again led Cumberlands in an historic season.  The Gifu, Japan native posted a career-best 24-1 singles record on the season, including an unblemished mark of 24-0 against NAIA opponents.  The 24 singles wins is a program record for singles wins in a season, which helped her climbed to be ranked tenth in the final ITA singles rankings.  The graduate student went 3-0 against opponents ranked in ITA top 50 singles ranking, including a pair of wins over Alexandra Para of Lindsey Wilson.  She also posted a perfect 9-0 record at #1 singles against teams that were ranked or receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25 Coaches' Poll.

The Gifu, Japan native notched an 18-8 doubles record on the season.  She teamed with Johanna Beckmann to close out the season going 7-1, including winning seven straight matches at #1 doubles.  Her success on the season helped Nagao finish her career as the winningest player in program history compiling a 74-15 singles record and a 61-33 doubles record, majority of which came at the top position.  She is also the first player in program history to be win at least 50 singles and 50 doubles matches in their career. 

This marks the second time in her career that Nagao has been named an ITA Singles All-American as she earned that distinction in 2020 along with being named an ITA Doubles All-American that year as well.  The graduate student has also been a four-time NAIA All-American, including earning First Team honors in each of the past three seasons, while being a two time MSC Player of the Year.  Nagao was the 2018 MSC Freshman of the Year and qualified for the ITA Cup three times throughout her career.

Sivam earns Regional Assistant Coach of the Year for the first time in his career after helping guide the Patriots to a strong finish.  Closing out his fifth season with the Patriots, Sivam has worked with over 20 All-Conference selections, eight All-Americans, and four MSC Player of the Year honorees.  He helped the women's tennis team capture their first Mid-South Conference tournament title in program history this year and was part of UC's 2021 team that won the MSC regular season title.  Sivam was voted the inaugural Mid-South Conference Assistant Coach of the Year in April and has compiled a 68-33 record in his time at Cumberlands.

The Patriots advanced to their fifth straight NAIA National Tournament, reaching the second round for the fourth time in five tries.

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