IRVING, Texas (April 28, 2017) – FIU sophomore Andrea Lazaro was a named the 2016-17 Conference USA Player of the Year the league announced on Friday as part of this year's all-conference awards. In all, a total of six Panthers earned all-conference honors, including sophomore Maryna Veksler, junior Mina Markovic, freshman Ulyana Grib, sophomore Gabriela Ferreira and senior Nina Nagode. 
 
To go along with her C-USA Player of the Year honor, Lazaro was named a First-Team All-C-USA selection. The native of Barcelona, Spain has been ranked by the ITA for much of the season, including a ranking of No. 28 back in March. Lazaro registered an overall record of 20-4 (.833) and 14-1 (.933) mark in dual action, closing out the regular season with seven-straight wins. She went 14-1 at the No. 1 position and was 4-2 against nationally-ranked opponents. A two-time C-USA Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week this season, Lazaro finished 2-0 in C-USA action, both in straight sets, defeating FAU's Laura Fabrizi (6-2, 6-1) and Middle Tennessee's Josefina Zehnder (6-0, 6-3). She recorded 17 of her 20 victories in straight-sets.
 
Lazaro becomes FIU's first C-USA Player of the Year.
 
Veksler earned First-Team All-C-USA honors. The native of Kiev, Ukraine, recorded an overall record of 23-6 (.793) with a mark of 16-3 (.842) in dual matches. She posted a 16-3 record at the No. 2 position, winning nine of her last 11 decisions. Veksler also posted a season-best seven-match winning streak from Jan. 24 to Feb. 25. She went 2-0 in C-USA action, both in straight sets, defeating FAU's Lyndey Boos (6-0, 6-0) and Middle Tennessee's Constanza Magazzini (6-2, 6-1). She won 20 of her matches in straight sets, also claiming a win in the C-USA Championships, downing Charlotte's Tai Martin (6-0, 6-3)
 
This marks Veksler's second all-conference honor in singles action (2016 All-C-USA first team).
 
Grib earned Second-Team All-C-USA honors. The native of Minsk, Belarus, registered a team-best 24-5 (.827) overall record during her freshman campaign. Grib also posted a team-high 18 wins in dual action, including a 15-3 (.833) mark at the No. 5 position. Named the C-USA Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week (March 28), Grib posted an 11-match winning streak from March 10 to April 22. She claimed 21 straight-set victories. Grib complied a 2-0 mark in C-USA action, defeating MT's Luisa Zirilli (5-7, 6-4, 10-3) and FAU's Alisa Rudenko (2-6, 7-6, 10-4). The first-year Panther also picked up two victories in the C-USA Tournament, beating Charlotte's Pierina Imparato (6-1, 6-2) and WKU's Natalia De Ugarte (6-2, 6-4).
 
The award is the first of Grib's career.
 
Markovic earned Second-Team All-C-USA honors. The Belgrade, Serbia, native registered an 18-5 (.782) mark in her first year with FIU after transferring from Houston. She went 10-4 (.714) at the No. 3 position and began the season with a seven-match winning streak (Sept. 23 to Oct. 21). She also had a six-match winning streak from March 8 to April 22. The streak began with a 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 win over Penn's Ria Vaidya, overcoming a 5-1 deficit in the third set. Markovic went 2-0 in C-USA action with wins over FAU's Ana Gutierrez (6-1, 6-2) and Middle Tennessee's Lidia Burrows (6-2, 6-4). She also claimed a 6-3, 6-3 win over Andreanna Christopoulou, and recorded 13 of her 18 overall wins in straight sets.
 
The award is the first of Markovic's FIU career.
 
Ferreira earned Third-Team All-C-USA honors. The native of Asuncion, Paraguay, went 16-5 (.762) in her first season with the Panthers, including a perfect 12-0 in dual matches. Ferreria registered an 11-0 mark at the No. 6 position, winning a season-best 13-straight matches from Oct. 28 to April 22. She won 14 matches in straight-sets and claimed a 1-0 mark in C-USA action, defeating FAU's Bianca Biglione (7-5, 6-1). Ferreira also picked up a pair of wins in the C-USA Tournament, topping Charlotte's Megan Smith (6-2, 6-2) and WKU's Violetta Shatalova (6-1, 6-3).
 
The award is the first of Ferreira's FIU career.
 
In doubles action, FIU claimed two awards as the tandem of Nina Nagode and Lazaro were named First-Team All-C-USA and the duo of Veksler and Grib were named Second-Team All-C-USA.
 
Nagode and Lazaro went 21-4 (.840) mark in doubles action, including a 13-2 (.867) mark at the No. 1 position in dual action. They won 11-straight matches from Feb. 4 to April 22 and were 9-1 in their last 10 decisions. The duo went 2-0 in C-USA action, defeating Josefina Zehnder and Sarah Sediri, 6-2, and FAU's Laura Fabrizi and Ana Gutierrez, 6-3. They also claimed a win in the C-USA Tournament with a 6-1 win over WKU's Lisa Friess and Andreanna Christopoulou.
 
Grib and Veksler notched a 24-5 (.827) record in doubles action, including a team-best 15-2 (.882) mark at the No. 2 position in dual action. The pair won 11-straight from Feb. 3 to April 21 and was 9-1 in their last 10 decisions. They finished 1-0 in C-USA action, defeating FAU's Heather Walton and Naiya Oden, 6-2. The duo also collected a 6-2 win over Charlotte's Tai Martin and Immie Cowper in the quarterfinals of this year's C-USA Championships.
 
A complete list of this year's all-conference awards follows:
 
2016-17 CONFERENCE USA WOMEN'S TENNIS AWARDS
Player of the Year: Andrea Lazaro, FIU
Freshman of the Year: Holly Hutchinson, Old Dominion
Newcomer of the Year: Wendy Zhang, Rice
Singles Player of the Championship: Lindsey Hodge, Rice
Doubles Team of the Championship: Lindsey Hodge/Wendy Zhang, Rice
Coach of the Year: Jonatan Berhane, WKU
 
All-Conference USA Singles
1st Team
Andrea Lazaro, FIU
Maryna Veksler, FIU
Derya Turhan, Marshall
Maria Kononova, North Texas
Borislava Botusharova, Old Dominion
Holly Hutchinson, Old Dominion
Ingrid Vojcinakova, Old Dominion
Katherine Ip, Rice
Lindsey Hodge, Rice
Wendy Zhang, Rice
Pardis Kianoush, UAB
Miriam Rosell Canudas, UTSA
Elpida Malamou, WKU

2nd Team
Tai Martin, Charlotte
Ulyana Grib, FIU
Mina Markovic, FIU
Jazmin Britos, Louisiana Tech
Maddie Silver, Marshall
Stephanie Smith, Marshall
Costanza Magazzini, Middle Tennessee
Tamuna Kutubidze, North Texas
Savannah Durkin, Rice
Alison Ho, Rice
Carolin Drescher, Southern Miss
Monica Malinen, WKU

3rd Team
Sasha Lee, Charlotte
Victoria Pahlett, Charlotte
Gabriela Ferreira, FIU
Lyndsey Boos, Florida Atlantic
Nadja Manjon, Louisiana Tech
Rachael Morales, Marshall
Anna Pomyatinskaya, Marshall
Lidia Burrows, Middle Tennessee
Minying Liang, North Texas
Alexis Thoma, North Texas
Fernanda Astete, Rice
Alex Kitchen, Southern Miss

All-Conference USA Doubles
1st Team
Nina Nagode/Andrea Lazaro, FIU
Maria Kononova/Tamuna Kutubidze, North Texas
Lindsey Hodge/Wendy Zhang, Rice

2nd Team
Maryna Veksler/ Ulyana Grib, FIU
Derya Turhan/Anna Pomyatinskaya, Marshall
Holly Hutchinson/Ingrid Vojcinakova, ODU

3rd Team
Savannah Durkin/Katherine Ip, Rice
Cindy Oest/Natalia De Ugarte/WKU
Alison Ho/Priya Niezgoda, 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 Riccardo Silva Stadium.
 
About FIU: Florida International University is classified by Carnegie as a "R1: Doctoral Universities - Highest Research Activity" and recognized as a Carnegie Community Engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as business, engineering, computer science, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes almost $9 billion each year to the local economy and is ranked second in Florida in Forbes Magazine's "America's Best Employers" list. FIU graduates are consistently among the highest paid college graduates in Florida and are among the leaders of public and private organizations throughout South Florida. 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 with multiple state-of-the-art research facilities including the Wall of Wind Research and Testing Facility, FIU's Medina Aquarius Program and the Advanced Materials Engineering Research Institute.  FIU has awarded more than 220,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, the Miami Beach Urban Studios, and Tianjin, China. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and more than 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.