Jeanjean’s Athlete of the Year Honor Spotlights Large Lynn Women’s Tennis All-SSC Haul

May 8, 2019

Women’s Tennis

All-Sunshine State Conference

Melbourne, Fla. – Leolia Jeanjean of the Lynn University women’s tennis team was announced as the 2019 Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year on Wednesday, as voted on by the league’s women’s tennis coaches. In singles, Jeanjean and Ulyana Grib were each named All-SSC First Team, Federica Mordegan was tabbed All-SSC Second Team and Eleonora Liga picked up Honorable Mention plaudits. Jeanjean and Grib were also selected to the All-SSC First Team Doubles.

The Lynn women’s tennis program brings home Player of the Year honors for the second consecutive season, following Klaudia Boczova’s award in 2018. This is the eighth Player of the Year selection in program history – the most by any school in the conference.

The senior Division I transfer has taken the SSC by storm in her first and only season as a Fighting Knight. Jeanjean has posted an undefeated 19-0 singles record at the No. 1 flight without dropping a single set to an opponent, defeating seven nationally-ranked opponents along the way. She has been nationally-ranked in singles the entire spring season, reaching as high as No. 7, and also holds a perfect 23-0 record in doubles on the year.

Jeanjean’s dominance had led to a league-best four SSC Player of the Week selections this season.

Grib, also a Division I transfer in her first season in the Blue and White, joins Jeanjean on the All-SSC First Team Singles. The Minsk, Belarus native logged a 17-1 overall record in singles on the year, winning all four of her matches against nationally-ranked foes. She has played at all three of the top singles flights, with 12 of her victories coming at the No. 2 position. Grib has been nationally ranked the last month of the season.

Jeanjean and Grib team up for All-SSC First Team Doubles honors after receiving the most votes in the league. The pair took over as Lynn’s No. 1 doubles tandem in the second half of the season, tallying a 10-0 record at the No. 1 flight with four wins over ranked opponents. Overall, Grib holds a 19-1 doubles mark in 2019 while Jeanjean is 23-0.

Mordegan repeats as an All-SSC Second Team Singles selection in her sophomore campaign. The Vicenza, Italy product played primarily at the No. 3 position for the Fighting Knights, posting a 17-1 overall record while going 6-1 in SSC action. Mordegan also received Second Team honors in singles last year as a freshman.

Liga made major strides in her sophomore campaign on the way to All-SSC Honorable Mention accolades in singles. The second-year Italian matched Jeanjean’s undefeated mark in solo play, logging a 19-0 overall record between the third, fourth, fifth and sixth flights with two wins over ranked adversaries. Liga did most of her damage at the No. 5 spot, going 11-0 at the fifth flight.

The Lynn women’s tennis program extends its streak to 12 consecutive years of having at least one All-SSC First Team selection in both singles and doubles. Lynn’s five First and Second Team selections are the most since 2016. Including the Player of the Year honor, Lynn’s six awards this year are the most for the program since 2014.

Nova Southeastern University’s Natalie Espinal has been voted Freshman of the Year after posting a 17-3 singles record for the Sharks, which includes an 8-2 mark at No. 1 singles. The Tegucigalpa, Honduras native becomes the first Nova Southeastern student-athlete to claim Freshman of the Year honors in women’s tennis.

As voted on by his peers, Doug Neagle of Nova Southeastern has been named the SSC Coach of the Year for 2019. Under his command, the Sharks won 12 more matches than last season, finished fourth place in the SSC regular season, were conference tournament runners-up, and reached a program-record No. 3 ITA ranking. In his third year at the helm, Neagle becomes the first NSU coach to win the award in women’s tennis.

Marta Vicens Miquel of Saint Leo is the only All-SSC athlete to repeat as First Team Singles from 2018. Saint Leo’s Andrea Ivanovic and NSU’s Daniela Obando both repeat as First Team Doubles performers from a year ago, while their partners, Kristyna Jurkova and Ana Navas, trade 2018 First Team Singles honors for First Team Doubles awards in 2019. In total, half of the upperclassman award winners this season repeat as All-SSC.

About the Fighting Knights
Lynn University’s national champion Fighting Knights compete in baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, softball, soccer, swimming, tennis, track and volleyball. The university’s 19 intercollegiate teams are home to over 300 student athletes. Lynn is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II institution and winner of 24 national championships and 42 Sunshine State Conference titles. Representing spirit, service and strength, the Fighting Knights strive for greatness through athletic performance and academic excellence.

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