Aggie Women Garner All-SEC Tennis Accolades

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M seniors Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar and Nazari Urbina have been named to the All-SEC first team for women’s tennis and Aggie junior Cristina Stancu was named to the second team, the league office announced today.
Playing in the nation’s toughest conference, which boasts four teams ranked in the Top 10, the trio helped the Aggie women’s tennis team capture the school’s first SEC regular season championship in any sport as A&M went 12-1 in conference play to tie current-No. 1-ranked Florida and No. 3-ranked Georgia for the overall league title. The Aggies also won the SEC Western Division, finishing with a two-game lead over second-place Alabama, ranked No. 9 in the nation.

With a No. 4 national singles ranking, Sanchez-Quintanar is the second highest ranked player representing the SEC. The Spain native went 9-3 in SEC matches and is 16-4 in all dual matches, playing exclusively at the No. 1 line. She is 35-7 overall, including 22-5 against ranked opponents, and her 35 wins ranks fourth in the A&M records for most wins in a season.

Sanchez-Quintanar also is ranked 48th in the nation in doubles with partner Wen Sun. The pair went 7-3 in SEC matches, playing all but one match at the No. 2 line, and they were 3-0 against ranked opponents.

Urbina went 9-1 in SEC singles matches, going 7-0 at the No. 3 line and 2-1 at No. 2. She was named SEC Player of the Week on March 6 after capping Texas A&M’s highest ranked win in school history with a come-from-behind 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-1 victory over then-No. 4 Florida’s 53rd-ranked Alexandra Cercone in the last match standing to secure A&M’s 4-3 victory. With the win, the Aggies snapped the Gators’ 37 consecutive regular-season SEC win streak, as well as their 45-match win streak against SEC teams in conference regular-season, SEC Tournament and NCAA Championship matches combined.

Urbina is No. 55 in the national singles rankings with a 17-7 overall record, including a 5-0 record against ranked opponents. From Xalapa, Mexico, Urbina is 97-31 in her career, ranking fourth in the A&M records for most wins in a career.

Stancu, who also earned SEC Player of the Week honors earlier this season, went 7-4 in SEC singles matches, going 4-4 at the No. 2 line and 3-0 at No. 3. She is ranked No. 71 in the nation with a 23-12 overall record, including 14-6 in dual matches.

From Romania, Stancu has been ranked as high as No. 7 in the nation in doubles with freshman Stefania Hristov, becoming the highest ranked doubles team in A&M history. The duo leads the team in overall doubles wins with a 19-9 record.

Texas A&M advanced to the semifinals of the SEC Tennis Championship and finished the regular season 21-3. Next up is the NCAA Championship, which begins May 10. The 64-team field will be announced April 30 at 5:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.

Aggie fans can keep up to date on the A&M women’s tennis team on Twitter by following @AggieWTEN or on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/pages/Aggie-Womens-Tennis/143874782434654

The following is a complete list of the SEC awards:

Coach of the Year: Roland Thornqvist, Florida
Player of the Year: Lauren Embree, Florida
Freshman of the Year: Pleun Burgmans Auburn
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Antonia Foehse, Alabama

All-SEC First Team
Alexa Guarachi, Alabama
Mary Anne Macfarlane, Alabama
Yang Pang, Arkansas
Pleun Burgmans, Auburn
Lauren Embree, Florida
Sofie Oyen, Florida
Lauren Herring, Georgia
Maho Kowase, Georgia
Kata Szekely, Tennessee
Brynn Boren, Tennessee
Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar, Texas A&M
Nazari Urbina, Texas A&M

All-SEC Second Team
Antonia Foehse, Alabama
Claudine Paulson, Arkansas
Nadia Ravita, Kentucky
Alexandra Cercone, Florida
Olivia Janowicz, Florida
Brianna Morgan, Florida
Kate Fuller, Georgia
Silvia Garcia, Georgia
Caroline Rohde-Moe, Ole Miss
Georgiana Patrasc, Mississippi State
Jaklin Alawi, South Carolina
Katerina Popova, South Carolina
Cristina Stancu, Texas A&M

All-Freshman Team
Natalia Maynetto, Alabama
Yang Pang, Arkansas
Pleun Burgmans, Auburn
Brianna Morgan, Florida
Silvia Garcia, Georgia
Nadia Ravita, Kentucky

Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics

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