FERRIS STATE SENIOR CAPTAIN GARNERS REGIONAL AWARD
Suzanne Batten Chosen As ITA Great Lakes Region Arthur Ashe Award Recipient
 | Senior captain Suzanne Batten has been named the Great Lakes Region's Arthur Ashe Award winner |
Ferris State University women’s tennis senior captain Suzanne Batten (Medina, Ohio) has been selected as the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s (ITA) 2002-03 Great Lakes Region Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award recipient, according to an announcement made Tuesday (May 6) by the ITA.
The ITA/Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award is presented annually to a player who has exhibited outstanding sportsmanship and leadership as well as scholastic, extracurricular and tennis achievements in each region. As a regional winner, Batten is one of eight finalists for the national award which will be chosen later this week.
A two-time (2001-02) first-team All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) selection, Batten compiled a 18-8 overall singles record this campaign including a 16-8 mark in number two singles action. She also registered a 17-12 record at the number one doubles flight along with junior Barbora Jilkova (Prague, Czech Republic).
The 5-1 Batten concluded her career with a 150-73 (.673) combined singles and doubles career mark, which ranks fourth among the school’s all-time leaders. Batten, who attained All-GLIAC Honorable Mention accolades in 2000, presently ranks fourth in career singles victories at FSU with a 73-27 (.730) overall record. She posted a 77-46 (.626) career doubles record and was one win shy of tying Rachel Clanton (78-28; 1995-99) for fifth place on the school’s all-time chart.
Batten, who received Ferris’ 2002-03 Most Valuable Player Award, recorded the school’s sixth-best individual single-season singles performance (21-4) during both the 2000-01 and 2001-02 campaigns. The three-time GLIAC All-Academic Team honoree was 15-9 overall in doubles play as a junior (2001-02) after posting a 23-9 mark the prior campaign.
Ferris claimed a share of its 18th league title in the last 19 years under third-year head coach Dave Ramos at the 2002 GLIAC Tournament with a 5-2 championship match win over Northern Michigan (10/26) at the Midland (Mich.) Community Tennis Center. The two teams shared the overall championship as NMU won the conference’s regular-season crown.
FSU, which is ranked 22nd nationally in the latest (April 25) Omni Hotels/ITA Division II national poll, concluded the 2002-03 campaign with a 16-10 overall record after dropping a 5-0 decision to Northwood last Friday (May 2) in the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Region title match at Midland. The Bulldogs registered their eighth consecutive regional tournament appearance and 13th overall national tournament bid this campaign.
As the governing body of collegiate tennis, the ITA promotes both the athletic and academic achievements of the collegiate tennis community. The ITA, which was founded in 1956 and is based in Skillman, N.J., administers numerous regional and national championships, the ITA Collegiate Summer Circuit, presented by the United States Tennis Association, and the Omni Hotels Collegiate Tennis Rankings for men’s and women’s tennis at the NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and junior college levels. The ITA also has a comprehensive awards program for players and coaches to honor excellence in academics, leadership and sportsmanship.
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