CLARKS SUMMIT, Pa. – The North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) has announced its 2015-16 Women’s Tennis West Division* All-Conference selections, which were determined during the individual tournament that was held at the Birchwood Tennis Club in Clarks Summit, Pa. on Thursday and Friday. 

The individual tournament 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 runners-up 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.  

The NEAC also announced its individual award winners at the conclusion of the tournament Friday.  Penn State Abington junior Honora Hegarty (Abington, Pa.) earned the Player of the Year award after an excellent performance in the tournament.  Slotted as the No. 2 seed in first singles, Hegarty secured a straight-set victory over Penn State Berks freshman Kianna Anderson (New Holland, Pa.) 7-5, 6-4 before upsetting Wells College senior and No. 1 seed Brooke Benedetto (Williamstown, Pa.) 6-4, 6-1 in the finals to claim the award, which annually goes to the winner of the first singles flight.  That capped off a terrific season in which Hegarty finished 8-3 in singles play while claiming a NEAC Player of the Week honor earlier this spring.  Benedetto made it to the championship after outlasting Lancaster Bible College sophomore Morgan Adams (Lancaster, Pa.) in a thrilling three-set battle, 6-1, 4-6, 14-12, in the first round of play. 

The conference coaches held on vote for the remaining two awards, tabbing Berks’ Kianna Anderson as the NEAC Rookie of the Year after an excellent debut season.  Anderson took home All-Conference Third Team honors in first singles and Second Team honors in first doubles alongside Caroline Bashore (Hamburg, Pa.) during the tournament, while also playing from the No. 1 singles and doubles positions during all matches she competed in for Berks this season.    

Penn State Abington’s David Sheaffer was selected by his peers as the NEAC Coach of the Year following an undefeated regular season in divisional play that helped the Nittany Lions claim their third straight regular season title.  Sheaffer’s squad also finished 13-4 overall and produced 12 NEAC All-Conference selections.  

Full tournament results can be viewed here. 

All three 2015-16 NEAC West All-Conference teams can be viewed below. 

********************************************************************************************************************************************** The North Eastern Athletic Conference has fourteen NCAA Division III member institutions which include: Bryn Athyn College, Cazenovia College, College of St. Elizabeth, Gallaudet University, Keuka College, Lancaster Bible College, Pennsylvania College of Technology, Pennsylvania State University - Abington, Pennsylvania State University - Berks, SUNY Cobleskill, SUNY Morrisville State College, SUNY Polytechnic Institute of Technology, Wells College, and Wilson College.  Associate members are: Cedar Crest College (W Swimming), D’Youville College (M Volleyball), Hilbert College (M Lacrosse & M Volleyball), Medaille College (M&W Lacrosse & M Volleyball), Penn State Altoona (M Volleyball) and Rutgers University - Camden (M Golf).  The North Eastern Athletic Conference has partnered with the North Atlantic Conference in the sports of men’s and women’s tennis.

*Beginning with the 2010 season, the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) has partnered with the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) in the sport of men’s and women’s tennis.  The NEAC will compete as associate members of the NAC in men’s tennis, while the NAC will compete as associate members of the NEAC in 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. 

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

Men's Tennis: NEAC members Bryn Athyn, Keuka, Lancaster Bible, Penn College, Penn State Abington and Penn State Berks 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, MCLA and Thomas.

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