CLARKS SUMMIT, Pa. – The North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) has announced its 2016-17 Women’s Tennis NEAC West Division* All-Conference selections, which were determined during the individual tournament that was held at the Birchwood Tennis Club on Saturday and Sunday. The 2016-17 women’s tennis annual individual awards were also announced at the conclusion of the tournament on Sunday afternoon. 

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 each flight in the championship round made up the All-Conference Second Team, while the All-Conference Third Team consists of the winners of each flight from the consolation bracket. 

Lancaster Bible rookie Greta Strunk (Lebanon, Pa.) earned NEAC Player of the Year honors, becoming the first Chargers’ player to receive the award. Strunk, who came in to the tournament as the top-seeded player in No. 1 singles, defeated Penn College’s Melissa Stabley (Cogan Station, Pa.), 6-1, 6-2, in the first round. In the final match of the afternoon, Strunk topped second-seeded Honora Hegarty (Abington, Pa.) from Penn State Abington by a score of 6-1, 6-2 in the No. 1 singles championship.    

Strunk was also selected as the NEAC Rookie of the Year by the NEAC West coaches. She is also the first from Lancaster Bible to earn the honor as the NEAC’s top first-year women’s tennis player. Strunk finished the regular season with a 9-2 record in her singles matches and an 8-3 record in doubles play.

Penn State Abington’s David Sheaffer was named NEAC Coach of the Year after a vote by the league coaches. In his ninth year at the helm, Sheaffer led the Nittany Lions to their first NEAC West Divisional Title after a 5-2 win over Penn State Berks in the team championship match. Penn State Abington owns an 8-5 overall record at the conclusion of the divisional championship, which includes a 6-0 mark against NEAC West Division opponents. Sheaffer and his squad will meet Colby-Sawyer on Sunday, May 7 to determine the NEAC/NAC Champion.

Complete results from the women’s tournament can be viewed here. The 2016-17 NEAC West All-Conference Team can be viewed below.

Flight Winner(s)	Name	Yr.	Hometown	Institution
First Team
#1 Singles	Greta Strunk	Fr.	Lebanon, Pa.	Lancaster Bible College
#2 Singles	Stephanie Jin	Jr.	Bluebell, Pa.	Penn State Abington
#3 Singles	Madison Kimball	Sr.	Jenkintown, Pa.	Penn State Abington
#4 Singles	Laura Youwakim	Jr.	Whitehall, Pa.	Penn State Berks
#5 Singles	Lucrezia Pulcini	Fr.	Bergamo, Italy	Penn State Berks
#6 Singles	Brittney Mecca	So.	Scranton, Pa.	Penn State Bers
#1 Doubles	Honora Hegarty Madison Kimball	Sr. Sr.	Abington, Pa. Jenkintown, Pa.	Penn State Abington
#2 Doubles	Kianna Anderson Erin Ginther	So. Sr.	New Holland, Pa. Collegeville, Pa.	Penn State Berks
#3 Doubles	Sally Phung Sam Amaro	Jr. Sr.	Philadelphia, Pa. Philadelphia, Pa.	Penn State Abington
Second Team
#1 Singles	Honora Hegarty	Sr.	Abington, Pa.	Penn State Abington
#2 Singles	Kianna Anderson	So.	New Holland, Pa.	Penn State Berks
#3 Singles	Erin Ginther	Sr.	Collegeville, Pa.	Penn State Berks
#4 Singles	Sally Phung	Jr.	Philadelphia, Pa.	Penn State Abington
#5 Singles	Janie Saile	Sr.	Huntingdon Valley, Pa.	Penn State Abington
#6 Singles	Sam Amaro	Sr.	Philadelphia, Pa.	Penn State Abington
#1 Doubles	Greta Strunk  Lynndath Thelemaque	Fr. Fr.	Lebanon, Pa. Berwick, Pa.	Lancaster Bible College
#2 Doubles	Stephanie Jin Janie Saile	Jr. Sr.	Bluebell, Pa. Huntingdon Valley, Pa.	Penn State Abington
#3 Doubles	Lucrezia Pulcini Brittney Mecca	Fr. So.	Bergamo, Italy Scranton, Pa.	Penn State Berks
Third Team
#1 Singles	Melissa Stabley	Sr.	Cogan Station, Pa.	Penn College
#2 Singles	Lynndath Thelemaque	Fr.	Berwick, Pa.	Lancaster Bible College
#3 Singles	Jane Herman	So.	Greencastle, Pa.	Penn College
#4 Singles	Yui Omachida	Fr.	Fukuoka, Japan	Wells College
#5 Singles	Stephanie Blest	Sr.	Emmaus, Pa.	Lancaster Bible College
#6 Singles	Sarah Wetzel	So.	Reading, Pa.	Lancaster Bible College
#1 Doubles	Caroline Bashore Laura Youwakim	So. Jr.	Hamburg, Pa. Whitehall, Pa.	Penn State Berks
#2 Doubles	Brianne Smith  Kayla Weaser	Sr. Sr.	Middletown, Pa. Middletown, Pa.	Lancaster Bible College
#3 Doubles	Stephanie Blest Rachel Snyder	Sr. Sr.	Emmaus, Pa. Middletown, Pa.	Lancaster Bible College

 

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The North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) 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, Wells College, and Wilson College.  Associate members are: Cedar Crest College (W Swimming), D’Youville College (M Volleyball), Hilbert College (M&W Lacrosse, M Volleyball), Medaille College (M&W Lacrosse, M Volleyball), Pennsylvania State University – Altoona (M Volleyball), and Rutgers University – Camden (M Golf).  The NEAC has partnered with the North Atlantic Conference in the sports of field hockey and 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, Husson, 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.

For more information, please visit www.neacsports.com.