Perez-Somarriba Claims Two ITA Southeast Region Awards

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Estela Perez-Somarriba of the University of Miami women’s tennis team has added a pair of honors to her lengthy resume. The senior earned the ITA Southeast Region’s Arthur Ashe Leadership & Sportsmanship Award and its Senior Player of the Year accolade, as announced Monday.

This is the second year in a row Perez-Somarriba has won the region’s Ashe Award and it is the third straight year a Hurricane has received it, as Sinead Lohan did so in 2018.

The prestigious recognition, which dates back to 1982, goes to a junior or senior who has exhibited outstanding sportsmanship and leadership, as well as scholastic, extracurricular and tennis achievements.

In addition, Perez-Somarriba became the first Hurricane since Stephanie Wagner in 2016 to notch the region’s Senior Player of the Year plaudit.

The Madrid native is the third Miami player to claim the distinction since the regions were realigned in 2010, as Bianca Eichkorn did so in 2011. Perez-Somarriba (141), Wagner (134) and Eichkorn (133) are the three winningest singles players in program history.

Perez-Somarriba went 25-3 in singles in the coronavirus-shorted 2019-20 campaign, one shy of the national lead in victories, and was ranked second in the country when play halted. A four-time ITA All-American in singles, Perez-Somarriba is the reigning NCAA singles champion and Honda Sport Award winner.

Academically, Perez-Somarriba recently graduated from Miami after majoring in economics and minoring in sport administration. Through her first seven collegiate semesters, she posted a 3.928 GPA and logged a perfect 4.0 mark in three of them.

Perez-Somarriba recently announced her intentions to return to Miami for an additional season, as granted by the NCAA.

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