IRVING, Texas (April 29, 2016) – Senior Carlotta Orlando, junior Nina Nagode, sophomore Nerma Caluk and freshmen Maryna Veksler and Andrea Lazaro were recognized by Conference USA, collecting a total of nine awards the league announced on Friday.
 
Veksler was named C-USA Freshman of the Year and a First-Team All-C-USA selection.  The native of Kiev, Ukraine ended her first season with the Panthers with a 26-9 overall mark (11-5 dual). She won all 11 dual matches at the No. 1 position with 19 of her 26 overall wins in straight sets. Veksler won a season-high 10-straight matches from Jan. 17 to Feb. 28. She ended the season with a straight-set win (6-3, 6-2) over Rice's Lindsey Hodge in the C-USA Championship match. This past fall, Veksler was named the C-USA Player of the Month (Oct.), going 10-2 and winning the ITA Southeast Regional Consolation Bracket in Athens, Ga.
 
Veksler becomes FIU's first C-USA Freshman of the Year.
 
Nagode earned First-Team All-C-USA honors. The Idrija, Slovenia product closed out the 2015-16 season with a 23-10 overall record and a 13-3 mark in dual action. She notched all 13 dual wins at the No. 2 position, tying her single-season best in wins both overall and dual. Eighteen of her 23 overall victories were in straight sets. Nagode went 2-1 versus C-USA opponents, including a 7-5, 6-2 win over Middle Tennessee's Brittany Huxley and a 6-0, 6-1 victory over ODU's Adriana Rajkovic in the C-USA Championships. She wrapped up the campaign winning a season-best seven-straight matches (March 8 – April 23).
 
This marks Nagode's second all-conference honor (2015 All-C-USA second team).
 
Caluk earned Second-Team All-C-USA honors. The native of Kakanj, Bosnia/Herzegovina recorded singles-season career highs in dual wins (16) and overall wins (28). Her 28 total victories led FIU as she posted a 16-3 mark in duals (.842), including a 14-2 mark at the No. 5 position. She notched 23 of her overall victories in straight sets. Caluk owned a 4-1 mark versus C-USA opponents, including a 6-4, 6-2 win over Middle Tennessee's Alory Pereira and a 6-1, 0-6, 7-6 (3) victory over ODU's Ingrid Vojcinakova. She registered the match-clinching points in both of FIU's wins in the C-USA Championships. She won five of her last six and eight of her last 10 to close out the season.
 
The award is the second of Caluk's career (2015 All-C-USA third team).
 
Lazaro earned Second-Team All-C-USA honors. The Barcelona, Spain native finished the year with a 24-9 overall mark (17-1 in dual action). Her 17-1 mark in dual action was the best in C-USA (.944) as she went the entire spring without a loss until the finals of the C-USA Championships. Twenty of her 24 overall wins were in straight sets. Lazaro went 4-1 versus C-USA opponents, including a 6-0, 6-2 win over Middle Tennessee's Luisa Zirilli and a 7-6 (7), 6-3 win over ODU's Nataliya Vlasova in the C-USA Championships. Winning 18-straight matches from Jan. 18 to April 23, she was named C-USA Tennis Athlete of the Week twice.
 
Orlando earned Second-Team All-C-USA honors. The native of Triste, Italy finished the year with a 20-11 overall mark and 12-4 in dual action. Her 12 dual wins are a career high for the senior and marked the second-straight season with 20-or-more wins for Orlando. Sixteen of her 20 overall wins were in straight sets. She won a season-high, nine-straight from Feb. 6 to March 8, finishing 9-2 at the No. 3 position and 3-2 at the No. 4 position.
 
This marks Orlando's fourth-straight all-conference honor (2015 All-C-USA first team, 2014 All-C-USA second team, 2013 All-Sun Belt).  
 
In doubles action, FIU claimed three awards as the tandem of Orlando and Lazaro were named Second-Team All-C-USA as well as the Doubles Team of the C-USA Championships, and the duo of Veksler and Nagode were named Second-Team All-C-USA.
 
Orlando and Lazaro went 14-3 in doubles action at the No. 2 position, winning eight of thier last 10. They were a perfect 4-0 versus C-USA opponents in doubles action, including a 6-4 win over Middle Tennessee's Darya Shulzhanok and Sarah Sediri, and a 6-3 victory over Rice's Lindsey Hodge and Alison Ho during the C-USA Tennis Championships.
 
Nagode and Veksler compiled an 11-4 doubles record at the No. 1 position. They won six-straight in doubles (Jan. 23 – Feb. 28). The pair went 2-2 in doubles action versus C-USA opponents, including wins over Middle Tennessee's Brittany Huxley and Giulia Squadrin (6-4), and Old Dominion's Ingrid Vojcinakova and Adriana Rajkovic (7-5) during the C-USA Tennis Championships.
 
A complete list of this year's all-conference awards follows:
 
C-USA Superlative Awards
Player of the Year: Derya Turhan, Marshall
Freshman of the Year: Maryna Veksler, FIU
Newcomer of the Year: Vivienne Kulicke, UTEP
Singles Player of the Championship: Alison Ho, Rice
Doubles Team of the Championship: Carlotta Orlando & Andrea Lazaro, FIU
Coach of the Year: Elizabeth Schmidt, Rice
 
All-Conference USA Singles
First Team
Nina Nagode, FIU
Maryna Veksler, FIU
Alexandra Starkova, Louisiana Tech
Derya Turhan, Marshall
Brittany Huxley, Middle Tennessee
Maria Kononova, North Texas
Tamuna Kutubidze, North Texas
Borislava Botusharova, Old Dominion
Savannah Durkin, Rice
Lindsey Hodge, Rice
Katherine Ip, Rice
Carolin Drescher, Southern Miss
Vivienne Kulicke, UTEP

Second Team
Nerma Caluk, FIU
Andrea Lazaro, FIU
Carlotta Orlando, FIU
Jazmin Britos, Louisiana Tech
Anastasiya Shestakova, North Texas
Nikol Hristova, Old Dominion
Nataliya Vlasova, Old Dominion
Ingrid Vojcinakova, Old Dominion
Alison Ho, Rice
Emily Smith, Rice
Miriam Rosell Canudas, UTSA
Andreanna Christopoulou, WKU

Third Team
Tai Martin, Charlotte
Macy Vonderschmidt, Charlotte
Bianca Biglione, Florida Atlantic
Ana Gutierrez, Florida Atlantic
Marta Sramkova, Louisiana Tech
Rachael Morales, Marshall
Anna Pomyatinskaya, Marshall
Adriana Rajkovic, Old Dominion
Solomiya Zinko, Rice
Alex Kitchen, Southern Miss
Rikeetha Pereira, Southern Miss
Pardis Kianoush, UAB
 
All-Conference USA Doubles
First Team
Derya Turhan/Anna Pomyatinskaya, Marshall
Maria Kononova/Tamuna Kutubidze, NT
Katherine Ip/Emily Smith, Rice

Second Team
Carlotta Orlando/Andrea Lazaro, FIU
Maryna Veksler/Nina Nagode, FIU
Nataliya Vlasova/Nikol Hristova, ODU

Third Team
Alexandra Starkova/Zoe Chen, LT
Brittany Huxley/Giulia Squadrin, MT
Savannah Durkin/Solomiya Zinko, Rice
 
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium.
 
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offer more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $8.9 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.