ITA Announces 2012 Junior and Community College National Award Winners
SKILLMAN, N.J. - The ITA has announced its 2012 national award winners for the Junior and Community College men's and women's tennis. The national winners are listed below, followed by a brief bio of their accomplishments.
2012 Men's Award Winners:
Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year – Josh Cobble, Cowley College
ITA Assistant Coach of the Year – Chris Tissot, Glendale Community College
ITA Sophomore of the Year – Jair Assuncao, Laredo Community College
ITA Rookie Player of the Year – Kamil Oliver Snaider, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College
ITA Player to Watch – Tassilo Schmid, Tyler Junior College
ITA/Arthur Ashe Jr. Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship – Simon Bardell, Meridian Community College
2012 Women's Award Winners:
Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year – Wanda McPhail, Meridian Community College
ITA Assistant Coach of the Year – Michael Woods, Foothill College
ITA Sophomore of the Year – Barbora Bozkova, Laredo Community College
ITA Rookie Player of the Year – Kerrie Cartwright, Tyler Junior College
ITA Player to Watch – Nelo Phiri, Tyler Junior College
ITA/Arthur Ashe Jr. Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship - Gienna Gonnella, Santa Rosa Junior College
Josh Cobble, the 2012 Wilson/ITA Men's Coach of the Year, coached his team to four victories over NCAA Division II squads this spring. Cowley College has been one of the top teams in the NJCAA all season. The Tigers claimed the 2012 NJCAA Region VI Tournament in dominating fashion, reaching the finals at all three doubles positions and all six singles positions en route to claiming all 27 team points. All of this was accomplished this season with four newcomers in his lineup. Cowley College enters the NJCAA Men’s Championship ranked fourth in the Campbell/ITA Junior and Community College Rankings.
Chris Tissot, the 2012 ITA Men's Assistant Coach of the Year, is an essential part of theh success of the Glendale Community College men's tennis team. He is in his third year as the assistant coach, helping Glendale become a top team in California Junior College men's tennis. This season the team has been ranked as high as 15th in the Campbell/ITA Southern California Junior College Team Rankings after finishing seventh in last year's state tournament. He has also helped develop some of the best players in the state, including 2011 ITA Junior College All Star Player of the Year Alex Sarkissian. He has also been instrumental in reporting not only Glendale's results to the ITA, but also helping other coaches in the state become more acquainted with doing so by creating a video showing the step-by-step process of how to enter scores into the ITA Results Entry System. He has also helped promote the Glendale tennis program in the community by teaching tennis to local children as part of an outreach program.
Jair Assuncao, the 2012 ITA Men's Sophomore of the Year, finished last year ranked second in the Campbell/ITA Junior College Men's Singles Rankings. He continued his spectacular play this past fall, claiming the Junior College Singles title at the 2011 USTA/ITA National Small College Championships in Mobile, Ala. He has put together a solid spring campaign and has earned a full scholarship to Incarnate Word beginning next fall.
Kamil Oliver Snaider, the 2012 ITA Men’s Rookie Player of the Year, has had a solid first year at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. He has played in the first singles position for almost the entire spring, going undefeated with a record of 12-0. Among his wins are victories over the top players at Gardner Webb University and Wisconsin-Green Bay, both of which are NCAA Division I programs.
Tassilo Schmid, the 2012 ITA Men's Player to Watch, joined his team in January, making a quick impact by being inserted in the lineup at the third singles and second doubles position. He has been a solid competitor in each match, posting a 7-4 singles record and 9-2 doubles record. He has become a stronger player as the spring season has progressed, along with starting to show great leadership despite being on the team for only a few months.
Meridian Community College head coach Wanda McPhail stated that Simon Bardell, the 2012 Men's ITA/Arthur Ashe Jr. Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship honoree, displays more sportsmanship than any player she has ever coached. He is a fierce competitor with a strong desire to win, but always maintains a positive demeanor on court whether he is winning or losing. He has also displayed tremendous leadership, running team practices when Coach McPhail is away on recruiting trips. He has always been heavily involved with a number of community service activities, including the Salvation Army Christmas Angel Tree, the American Cancer Society's "Street Strut for Breat Cancer," Mission in Action, and Love's Kitchen (a local soup kitchen). He has also helped with tennis clinics held on campus. Aspiring to earn a degree in Sports Medicine, he currently holds a 3.43 GPA.
Wanda McPhail, the 2012 Wilson/ITA Women's Coach of the Year, is a great ambassador for junior college women's tennis. In addition to serving as the head coach of both the men's and women's teams at Meridian Community College, she is also on the ITA Board of Directors; the National Chair for the ITA Junior College Men's and Women's Awards Committee, a Region Chair on the ITA Junior College Men's and Women's Rankings Committees; and the women's Coaches Association President. Her teams are always near the top of the region and perform well on the national stage. She has a great passion for the sport of tennis and is known not only as a caring person toward her players, but toward fellow coaches and their players as well.
Michael Woods, the 2012 ITA Women's Assistant Coach of the Year, has played a vital role in helping turn around the Foothill women's tennis program. Two years before he arrived on campus, the team was winless in the conference at 0-11. In his first season, the team was much improved at 7-3 in conference play. This season, Foothill went an impressive 12-0 against league foes. He is a volunteer assistant working tirelessly with the team on fundamentals and strategy. He is a dedicated and dependable person who is passionate about coaching and the sport of tennis.
Barbora Bozkova, the 2012 ITA Women’s Sophomore of the Year, finished the year ranked second in the Campbell/ITA Junior College Women’s Singles Rankings. She was the runner-up in the Junior College Women’s Singles draw at the 2011 USTA/ITA National Small College Championships. She has a perfect record in the spring, collecting wins over players from NCAA Divisions I, II, and III. She is currently the top-ranked player in the latest Campbell/ITA Junior College Women’s Singles Rankings.
Kerrie Cartwright, the 2012 Women’s ITA Rookie Player of the Year, has put together an impressive year on the court, with a singles record of 29-2. In the fall she claimed the USTA/ITA Junior College Women’s Singles title at the 2011 USTA/ITA National Small College Championships in Mobile, Ala. She is currently ranked second in the latest Campbell/ITA Junior College Women’s Singles Rankings. She has surrendered a total of three sets to her opponents in singles action this spring.
Nelo Phiri, the 2012 Women's ITA Player to Watch, has been a leader on her team through her hard work and dedication. She played well throughout the season, finishing with 19 wins in singles, including an undefeated spring campaign against JuCo competition.
In her second year at Santa Rosa Junior College, Gienna Gonnella, the 2012 Women’s ITA/Arthur Ashe Jr. Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship winner, continues to have a positive impact on her team and others through her tremendous work ethic, incredible sportsmanship, and positive energy during competition. She is an avid volunteer with Bob Burke’s Children’s Foundation, where she uses her musical talents to bring joy to clinically ill children. She has spent over 100 hours the last two summers volunteering at Santa Rosa’s summer camps. She is present at every fundraising event her team holds, and more impressively, has never missed a single practice. She also finds time to volunteer with a number of academic organizations. When not on court or volunteering, she also serves as a hostess/busser/waitress/pianist at her family’s restauraunt in Occidental.
For a full list of NJCAA Regional award winners, visit http://www.itatennis.com/AwardsAndRankings/Archives.htm.
As the governing body of collegiate tennis, the ITA promotes both the athletic and academic achievements of the collegiate tennis community. The ITA, which is comprised of nearly 1,700 men's and women's varsity coaches representing over 1,200 institutions, administers numerous regional and national championships and the Campbell/ITA College Tennis Rankings for over 20,000 college varsity student-athletes at the NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and Junior College levels. The ITA also has a comprehensive awards program for players and coaches to honor excellence in academics, leadership and sportsmanship. The official ITA web site iswww.itatennis.com.
