BATON ROUGE — LSU’s Bruna Colosio, the eighth-ranked women’s tennis player in the nation, was named the 2001 Southwest Region’s Player to Watch on Tuesday by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
“This is another huge honor for Bruna,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “She’s had an outstanding season this year and it’s a great thing to see her reap the benefits of all of her hard work.”
Colosio, a junior from Cascaval, Brazil, earned the distinguished ITA award on Tuesday, which is designated for the top player in each of the eight regions who has had an outstanding season, has not yet won an ITA Grand Slam singles title and is expected to perform at a high level for the rest of her career.
The following seven players, along with Colosio, are now eligible for the National Player to Watch Award which will be announced this Sunday evening, May 20, in Stone Mountain, Ga.
They are Nataly Cahana (Old Dominion), Amanda Johnson (Duke), Jessica Lehnhoff (Florida), Becky Varnum (Notre Dame), Renate Stoop (Boise State), Kim Niggemeyer (Fresno State) and Adria Engel (Arizona State).
The Lady Tigers’ No. 1 singles player, Colosio, finished the 2001 dual-match season with an overall record of 23-3 and was named the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year. She ended SEC competition with a perfect 10-0 record on court No. 1 and with an impressive 17-2 mark in dual matches.
The 26th-ranked LSU women’s tennis team was knocked out of the NCAA Tournament last Friday by the Ole Miss Rebels, 4-1, in Palo Alto, Calif., to end the season with a 14-10 final record. Colosio heads to Stone Mountain, Ga., this weekend to participate in the NCAA Singles Championships from Friday, May 21-25.