Northern Kentucky University’s Sydney Power was named to the Atlantic Sun Conference All-Freshman team for women’s tennis, the league office announced.
Power, a freshman from Powell, Ohio, stepped in and made an immediate impact for the Norse, leading the team with eight wins in singles play as she worked her way up to the No. 2 singles flight over the course of the year.
“This honor is well-deserved for Sydney,” said head coach Brian Nester. “She has stepped up to compete when we needed her and came away with some strong results. This award speaks to the direction our program is headed and gives us a lot of hope for future seasons.”
Power compiled a three-match winning streak March 13-19, including wins at Hartford and St. Francis (N.Y.) as well as a home win against Wisconsin-Green Bay.
In doubles action, Power picked up seven wins, including four with Nicole Soutar and three with Yasmine Xantos. Power and Xantos paired up to take a pair of wins in A-Sun action as well as a victory over the Xavier pairing of Lizzie Oosterbaan and Megan Morris.
Power and the Norse now focus their attention on the A-Sun Championship, which begins on Friday morning as NKU will take on the No. 4 seed Lipscomb in the opening round. First serve from the UNF Tennis Complex in Jacksonville, Florida, is set for 11:30 a.m.
Portz captures second-straight A-Sun MGolf weekly award
After becoming just the second Northern Kentucky men’s golfer to be named Atlantic Sun Conference Men’s Golf Player of the Week seven days ago, Clayton Portz has earned the distinction for the second week in a row.
Portz was electric at Tennessee State’s Big Blue Invitational, matching or breaking two program records en route to a third-place finish at the event.
Northern Kentucky’s 18-hole record was equaled by Portz in the opening round of the event on Monday when he carded a 7-under 65. The junior then broke NKU’s 54-hole mark by four strokes when he finished with an 11-under-par 205 for the event.
“Clayton is firing on all cylinders right now,” said head coach Daryl Landrum. “He has steadily improved all season and is playing the best golf of his career as a Norse.”
In the last two events at the Wright State Intercollegiate and Big Blue Invite, the Springfield, Ohio (Kenton Ridge), native has finished second and third, respectively. After shooting 1-over in the first two rounds at Wright State, Portz has responded with four-straight rounds under par and is 14-under-par over those 72 holes.
On the season, 15 of the 29 rounds Portz has played have been scored at par or better. He leads the Norse with a 72.34 stroke average.
Northern Kentucky will travel to Braselton, Georgia, and the Chataeu Elan Golf Course for the 2015 Atlantic Sun Championship on April 19-21.
From NKU Athletics