CLARKS SUMMITT, PA – The North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) wrapped up its two-day West Division* championships with individual tournament play Friday, which consisted of the top-four seeded student-athletes for first through sixth singles and first through third doubles.

Each flight saw the No. 1 seed take on the No. 4 seed and the No. 2 seed take on the No. 3 seed. The first-round winners advanced to the championship round, which produced six singles position champions and three doubles position champions, with those student-athletes also making up the All-Conference First Team.  The runner-ups from those flights made up the All-Conference Second Team, while the All-Conference Third Team consisted of the winners of each flight from the consolation bracket.  All three All-Conference teams can be viewed below.

The NEAC also announced its individual awards at the conclusion of the tournament, which was held at the Birchwood Tennis Club in Clarks Summit, Pa.  Penn State Berks sophomore Crystal Hitz (Lebanon, Pa.) was named the NEAC West Division Player of the Year after winning the first singles championship.  Hitz defeated Penn State Abington senior Stephanie Mockus (Richboro, Pa.) 6-3, 6-1 in the opening round before defeating Penn State Harrisburg freshman Gabrielle LeGendre (East Stroudsburg, Pa.) 6-4, 6-3 in the championship match.

Not all was lost for LeGendre, however, as she still went on to be chosen as the conference’s inaugural Rookie of the Year.  LeGendre was 9-6 overall out of the No. 1 singles position this season, which included going 4-2 in conference play.  She also earned one NEAC West Student-Athlete of the Week honor on the year.

Penn State Berks head coach Scott Yarnell was chosen by his peers as the Coach of the Year.  Yarnell led the Nittany Lions to the divisional championship as the No. 3 seed in yesterday’s team tournament with a 5-2 round-one victory over Penn State Abington and a thrilling 5-4 win over top seed Wells College.  Yarnell also led his squad to a 10-5 overall record and a 5-1 division record on the season.

To view all of the results from the divisional championship, click here.

The All-Conference Team selections are as follows:

All-Conference Team Selections

 

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The North Eastern Athletic Conference has thirteen NCAA Division III member institutions which include: Cazenovia College, College of St. Elizabeth, Gallaudet University, Keuka College, Lancaster Bible College, Pennsylvania State University - Abington, Pennsylvania State University - Berks, Pennsylvania State University -Harrisburg, SUNY Cobleskill, SUNY Institute of Technology, SUNY Morrisville State College, Wells College, and Wilson College.  Associate members are: Hilbert College (M Lacrosse), Medaille College (M&W Lacrosse) and Rutgers University - Camden (M Golf). 

*Beginning with the 2010 season, the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) has partnered with the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) in the sports of baseball, women’s lacrosse, and men’s and women’s tennis.  The NEAC will compete as associate members of the NAC in women’s lacrosse and men’s tennis, while the NAC will compete as associate members of the NEAC in baseball and women’s tennis.  Members from each conference will be divided into an East and West Division for each sport, with each division holding a championship and the two divisional champions then facing off to determine the conference champion. The conference winner for each sport will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championships.  For baseball and women’s lacrosse, this partnership will end following the 2012 season.

A breakdown of the NEAC/NAC tennis partnership is as follows:

Men's Tennis: NEAC members Keuka, Lancaster Bible, Penn State Abington, Penn State Berks and Penn State Harrisburg will play as associate members of the NAC in a West Division.  The East Division will consist of NAC members Castleton, Colby-Sawyer, Green Mountain, Johnson State, Lyndon State and Thomas.

Women's Tennis: NAC members Castleton, Colby-Sawyer, Johnson State, Lyndon State and Thomas will play in the NEAC as associate members in the East Division.  The West Division will consist of NEAC members College of St. Elizabeth, Keuka, Lancaster Bible, Penn State Abington, Penn State Berks, Penn State Harrisburg and Wells.