Brooke Austin Named SEC Freshman, Player of the Year; Four Gators Garner Conference Honors
Wednesday, April 22, 2015 | Women's Tennis
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – For the first time in Florida Gator history, a freshman was named both SEC Freshman of the Year and SEC Player of the Year in the same season, as Brooke Austin was awarded with both honors, the league announced Wednesday.
Austin is the second Gator freshman to be named Player of the Year and the second freshman in league history to earn the title.
The rookie from Indianapolis, Ind., went 10-2 in conference singles at the No. 1 position and 5-1 at the top doubles position in SEC play. Austin boasts an overall singles record of 30-7, and is 22-5 in overall doubles action. She has defeated 10 ranked singles players in dual matches and leads the Gators with 17 dual singles wins.
Austin is the first freshman to play No. 1 singles for the Gators since Gator Great Lauren Embree in 2010. The last UF women's tennis player to be named SEC Player of the Year was current undergraduate student-coach for the Gators, Allie Will, in 2011. Will is also the last Gator to be named SEC Freshman of the Year (2010).
Despite an early exit from the 2015 SEC Tournament, Austin was named to the SEC All-Tournament Team. She was also named SEC Freshman of the Week on April 13.
Additionally, Austin was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team and First Team-All SEC along with fellow rookie, Josie Kuhlman. Kuhlman tabbed a 9-1 record in SEC singles at the No. 2 position and a 7-4 mark in conference doubles playing primarily with Peggy Porter. Kuhlman has defeated six ranked opponents during the dual match season. She was named SEC Freshman of the Week on March 25 and earned 2015 ITA All-Tournament Team honors at the National Indoor Championships.
Junior Brianna Morgan was also named First Team All-SEC, while sophomore Kourtney Keegan earned Second Team honors. Morgan is a two-time First Team All-SEC honoree. The junior from Beverly Hills, Calif., went 10-1 at the No. 3 positon in SEC singles. She has dropped just two SEC singles matches in her career at Florida. Keegan, the second-year from Roswell, Ga., posted an 8-1 mark in conference singles and went 5-1 with Austin in the No. 1 doubles position during the SEC season. This is the first conference yearly award for Keegan.
First Team All-SEC
Maya Jansen, Alabama
Erin Routliffe, Alabama
Brooke Austin, Florida
Josie Kuhlman, Florida
Brianna Morgan, Florida
Lauren Herring, Georgia
Joana Vale Costa, LSU
Julia Jones, Ole Miss
Jasmine Lee, Mississippi State
Rachel Pierson, Texas A&M
Sydney Campbell, Vanderbilt
Astra Sharma, Vanderbilt
Second Team All-SEC
Yuliya Lisa, Arkansas
Pleun Burgmans, Auburn
Kourtney Keegan, Florida
Silvia Garcia, Georgia
Ellen Perez, Georgia
Kennedy Shaffer, Georgia
Aldila Sutjiadi, Kentucky
Skylar Kuykendall, LSU
Elixane Lechemia, South Carolina
Rutuja Bhosale, Texas A&M
Saska Gavrilovska, Texas A&M
Frances Altick, Vanderbilt
Courtney Colton, Vanderbilt
All-Freshman
Brooke Austin, Florida
Josie Kuhlman, Florida
Ellen Perez, Georgia
Kennedy Shaffer, Georgia
Arianne Hartono, Ole Miss
Astra Sharma, Vanderbilt
Player of the Year: Brooke Austin, Florida
Freshman of the Year: Brooke Austin, Florida
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Emily Zabor, Alabama
Coach of the Year: Geoff Macdonald, Vanderbilt
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