Burinato and Dimante Headline ECC Women’s Tennis All-Conference Awards

Central Islip, N.Y. - Senior Sara Burinato (Barcelona, Spain) from New York Institute of Technology has been named the ECC Women’s Tennis Player of Year, while University of the District of Columbia's Laura Dimante (Riga, Latvia) took home the Rookie of the Year honor, as voted upon by the conference’s coaches.

Burinato, a four-time ECC All-Conference First Team selection and Preseason Player of the Year, earns the second major honor of her career after winning the Rookie of the Year award as a freshman. For the season, she has posted a combined overall record of 24-3 between singles and doubles play. Her record in ECC play is even more impressive, tallying a perfect 8-0 mark in both singles and doubles mostly at the No. 1 position.

Dimante earns the honor of the conference's top rookie after putting together a standout debut season in the nation's capital. She was the only freshman in the ECC who played more than five matches to post a winning record, compiling a 7-3 overall record in both singles and doubles against Division II competition. In ECC play, she accumulated an identical record of 6-2 in both singles at the No. 3 flight and doubles split between the No. 1 and No. 2 flights.

Alan Nagel of Queens College has been tabbed as the ECC Women’s Tennis Coach of the Year by his peers. This marks the 10th time in his 36th seasons leading the Knights and second straight season that he has been named the conference's Coach of the Year. Nagel led the squad to the second seed in the ECC Women’s Tennis Championship with a 7-1 conference record and a 9-1 overall mark in dual matches.

2014 ECC Women’s Tennis All-Conference
First Team
Sara Burinato, NYIT (Sr., Barcelona, Spain)
Didi Fatchikova, LIU Post (Jr., Sofia, Bulgaria)
Peerada Looareesuwan, District of Columbia (Jr., Bangkok, Thailand)
Yevgeniya Plevako, Queens (Sr., Astana, Kazakhstan)
Alessia Rossetti, NYIT (So., Minusio, Switzerland)
Gabriela Siembab, NYIT (So., Chrzanow, Poland)

Second Team
Cami Abdallah, Queens (So., Rabat, Morocco)
Melanie Benyadi, NYIT (So., Saint Etienne, France)
Alexandra Borgenhoff, NYIT (Jr., Alingsas, Switzerland)
Laura Dimante, District of Columbia (Riga, Latvia)
Andrea Samson, Queens (Jr., Key Biscayne, Fla.)
Angelika Sobiecka, Queens (So., Mwani, Poland)

Player of the Year: Sara Burinato, NYIT
Rookie of the Year: Laura Dimante, District of Columbia
Coach of the Year: Alan Nagel, Queens