BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. -- Mountain East Conference regular season champion West Virginia State swept the conference annual awards, the league announced today. WVSU's Brittany Franco is the Player of the Year, while teammate Laura Isbey is the Freshman of the Year, and head coach John Simms is the Coach of the Year.
Franco, a senior from Deerfield Beach, Fla., went through the league undefeated at No. 1 singles and went 6-1 at No. 1 doubles for the Yellow Jackets. Franco was named MEC Player of the Week three times during the fall and is a three-time first team All-MEC honoree.
Isbey, a freshman from Auckland, New Zealand, was unbeaten at No. 2 singles in conference play for the Yellow Jackets, and also went 5-1 at No. 1 doubles. Isbey was named first team All-MEC in her first season at WVSU.
Simms earns his third-consecutive Coach of the Year honors after leading the Yellow Jackets to a third-straight Mountain East Conference regular season championship. The Yellow Jackets finished conference play with a perfect 7-0 record and are the No. 1 seed at this weekend's MEC Tournament in Charleston, W.Va.
Joining Franco and Isbey on the first team are West Liberty's Raquel Cabero and Emily Dawson, Charleston's Elise Edwards and Toni Katipa, along with West Virginia Wesleyan's Paula Pimenta and UVa-Wise's Daria Tyshchenko.
The second team consists of Nina Dillwald (WVSU), Taylor Dixon (CU), Rhiannon James (WLU), Mariona Junyer (WVWC), Taylor Nichols (FSU), Ana Pena (UC), Charlotte Sandy (WVSU) and Silvana Slusarciuc (UC)
The All-MEC teams and awards are selected by a vote of the league's coaches.
| First Team All-Mountain East Conference |
| Name |
School |
Cl. |
Hometown |
| Raquel Cabero |
West Liberty |
Jr. |
Madrid, Spain |
| Emily Dawson |
West Liberty |
Sr. |
East Liverpool, Ohio |
| Elise Edwards |
Charleston |
Fr. |
Burlington, Ontario |
| Brittany Franco |
West Virginia State |
Sr. |
Deerfield Beach, Fla. |
| Laura Isbey |
West Virginia State |
Fr. |
Auckland, New Zealand |
| Toni Katipa |
Charleston |
So. |
Rotorua, New Zealand |
| Paula Pimenta |
West Virginia Wesleyan |
Jr. |
Parana, Brazil |
| Daria Tyshchenko |
UVa-Wise |
So. |
Kirovograd, Ukraine |
|
|
|
|
| Second Team All-Mountain East Conference |
| Name |
School |
Cl. |
Hometown |
| Nina Dillwald |
West Virginia State |
So. |
Castrop-Rauxel, Germany |
| Taylor Dixon |
Concord |
So. |
Ocala, Fla. |
| Rhiannon James |
West Liberty |
Fr. |
Dublin, Ohio |
| Mariona Junyer |
West Virginia Wesleyan |
Fr. |
Figueres, Spain |
| Taylor Nichols |
Fairmont State |
Sr. |
Fredericksburg, Va. |
| Ana Pena |
Charleston |
Sr. |
Bogotá, Columbia |
| Charlotte Sandy |
West Virginia State |
Sr. |
Liskeard, England |
| Silvana Slusarciuc |
Charleston |
Fr. |
Timisoara, Romania |
Player of the Year: Brittany Franco (West Virginia State)
Freshman of the Year: Laura Isbey (West Virginia State)
Coach of the Year: John Simms (West Virginia State)