Megan Bradley Named ITA National Player of the Year
June 6, 2005
CORAL GABLES, <?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>Fla. –All-American Megan Bradley became the first University of Miami tennis player to be named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Player of the Year, it was announced Monday. <?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>
The ITA National Player of the Year and Doubles Team of the Year awards go annually to the individuals who have had the most outstanding years, as determined by the ITA’s National Ranking and Tournament Committees. The women’s ITA National Player of the Year award dates back to 1982.
This year’s award winners will be will be honored at the ITA All-Star Outing and Awards Luncheon, presented by the NickBollettieriTennisAcademy, on August 26 at New York City’s Central Park.
Bradley turned in a 44-2 senior season, a UM single season record, highlighted by a 39-match win streak that lasted from October 8 until May 24. Bradley, a native of Columbia, Missouri, lost just three sets during the win streak. She was upset in the second round of last month’s NCAA singles tournament, but finished the season at No. 1 in the ITA Rankings – a spot she held since March 8. She captured the singles title at the ITA National Indoor Championships in November.
The award is the most recent in a long list of accolades that Bradley has accumulated this season. She was named the ITA National Senior Player of the Year, the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year and the ACC/UM Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Bradley, who received a sports administration degree in May, was also named the Most Outstanding Student in the School of Education’s Sports Administration Program and was a UM graduation commencement speaker. She graduated with a 3.50 cumulative grade point average. For her efforts in the classroom, Bradley was selected to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America First Team for District III.
After only three seasons with the Hurricanes, Bradley finished her career fourth on the all-time list with a 98-17 record.
Bradley earned her fourth and fifth career All-American honors after she was seeded first in May’s NCAA Singles Championship and seeded third alongside sophomore Audrey Banada, who received her first All-American accolade, in the NCAA Doubles Championship. The duo reached the quarterfinals of the doubles tournament, marking the first time a Miami doubles tandem has reached the quarters since the 1992 season.
Bradley amassed a 34-4 doubles mark, also a UM single season record, and was 18-2 with Banada. The duo finished the season ranked sixth in the final ITA doubles rankings and were ranked as high as second during the season.
