April 30, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - The Conference USA office announced on Thursday that UCF women's tennis player Katie Orletsky (Titusville, Fla.) was voted as the C-USA Newcomer of the Year. Additionally, Jenny Frisell, Elvira Serrot, Andrea Yacaman and Orletsky were recognized as Scholar-Ballers by head coach Stephanie Nickitas and the founder of the program Dr. C. Keith Harrison.
After transferring from Arizona, Orletsky dominated the No. 6 singles slot by posting a 12-5 singles mark. On the doubles court, Christy Core teamed up with Orletsky at No. 3 doubles to record a 9-6 dual-match record.
In the four years that UCF has been a part of C-USA, this was the first time that an individual from the women's tennis team was chosen for a specialty award.
The four players received the distinction as a Scholar-Baller for maintaining a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.0, reaching that plateau in the last semester or by earning an undergraduate degree regardless of GPA.
The Scholar-Baller program was created to help bridge the gap between education and sports and was founded by UCF professor Dr. C. Keith Harrison. The program now encompasses 52 major colleges and universities, 24 of which compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision. In 2004, the Scholar-Baller programs at Arizona State, Hampton and Morgan State Universities became the first to publicly recognize the academic achievements of its student-athletes with a special patch or decal on its team uniforms and UCF is proud to join the list of schools starting in the 2008 football season.
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