Fahey Repeats as Big Ten Athlete of the Year; Bernstein Earns Coach Award
5/2/2019 11:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
ROSEMONT, Ill. -- Senior Kate Fahey was voted the Big Ten women's tennis Athlete of the Year for the second straight season and head coach Ronni Bernstein was named the Coach of the Year on Thursday (May 2) to highlight the University of Michigan's conference awards. Fahey, senior Brienne Minor and junior Giulia Pairone each earned All-Big Ten honors as well.
Fahey joins Denise Muresan (2010, '11) and Emina Bektas (2014, '15) as Wolverines to repeat as Big Ten Athlete of the Year. Fahey went 9-0 during the conference season at the No. 1 singles spots before going 3-0 at No. 1 during the Big Ten Tournament. She also teamed up with Minor for 9-0 record at No. 1 in doubles. Fahey holds a 35-5 overall singles mark this season and is 18-1 at No. 1. She earned her third straight NCAA Singles Championship berth and received the No. 3 seed for the tournament. She also earned All-Big Ten honors for the fourth straight season.
Bernstein was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year for the sixth time and the first since 2014. She led Michigan to both the Big Ten championship behind an 11-0 record and its second straight Big Ten Tournament title after wins over Purdue, Northwestern and Illinois over the weekend. Michigan is 18-5 on the season and will host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in the last 10 seasons.
Minor grabbed all-conference honors for the fourth time in her career after going 9-1 in singles action and 9-0 with Fahey at the No. 1 doubles spot. Minor, the 2017 NCAA singles champion, holds a 27-5 overall singles record and has won 10 straight matches. She also earned a bid to the NCAA Singles Championship and was Michigan's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree.
Pairone rounded out Michigan's All-Big Ten recipients, earning all-conference honors during her first season with the Maize and Blue. Pairone, currently ranked No. 80 in singles, put together a 10-0 Big Ten campaign in singles and a 9-1 mark in doubles with Fahey and freshman Anca Craciun. On the season, Pairone is 23-10 in singles with a 15-4 dual-match record.
Michigan will host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament on Friday and Saturday (May 3-4), welcoming Kentucky, DePaul and UIC to the Varsity Tennis Center. U-M will face UIC at 2 p.m. Friday.
Players Mentioned
