UDC Women’s Tennis Earns a Host of Conference Awards

WEST BABYLON, N.Y.- The East Coast Conference announced its Women's tennis All-Conference selections on Wednesday afternoon. Head Coach Theodore Mahaffey II, earned Coach of the Year, Valentina Brienza earned Co-Rookie of the year, and Simoné Pärn, Mariona Franco, Sofia Bellucco, and Joanna Skrzypczynska earned All-Conference awards for their performances during the 2021 Fall Season.

Coach Mahaffey earned his fourth Coach of the Year title for leading the women's tennis team to a regular-season title with a perfect 9-0 overall record and then going on to win the Conference Championships.

Brienza earned Co-Rookie of the year after going undefeated on the season. She finished the regular season with an 8-0 record in singles play and 3-0 in doubles play. She was the clinching point in leading the Firebirds to their historic win over Queens College early in the season.

Pärn, Franco, and Bellucco all received First-Team conference honors and Skrzypczynska received second-team conference honors.

Pärn went 8-1 at No.1 singles and 6-3 at No. 1 doubles. Her only singles loss came from player of the year Maja Makal, who she went on to defeat in the postseason to clinch the winning point for the Firebirds. Pärn also received the Elite 19 award for the second time in her career. This award is given to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average competing in each of the ECC's 19 Championships.

Franco went undefeated at No. 2 singles with a 9-0 record and went 8-1 in doubles.

Bellucco finished the regular season with an 8-1 record in singles and 6-3 at No. 1 doubles.

Skrzypczynska went 5-1 on the season in singles play and 4-3 in doubles.

The Firebirds will continue their season in the Spring with an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.