ATHENS, Ga.—Georgia junior Kate Fuller has been awarded the Southeast Region Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced Tuesday night.

 

“It’s a huge honor to win this award,” Fuller said. “To be associated with anything that has Arthur Ashe’s name in it is quite an honor. There are a lot of great players and great people in our region so it’s really special to be recognized.”

 

The award recognizes outstanding individuals at the regional and national level. The award, which dates back to 1982, goes to players who have exhibited outstanding sportsmanship and leadership as well as scholastic, extracurricular and tennis achievements. All of the regional winners are now eligible to be awarded the national award which will be announced later this month.

 

Off the court, Fuller is the President as Georgia’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, and has been a member of the committee since 2010. She helped to launch initiatives that increases school spirit amongst student-athletes and that keeps track of all of the community service hours performed by student-athletes. She is on the leadership of Team United, and through that, has been involved in activities such as Special Olympics at UGA, and speaking in local schools. Fuller is a three-time member of the SEC Community Service Team, in addition to being an ITA Scholar-Athlete and a repeat member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll.

 

On the court, this season Fuller has gone 23-2 in doubles with freshman Silvia Garcia to garner the nation’s top doubles ranking. In singles, she’s 30-7, including 9-2 in conference play. After being awarded the top-seed in next week’s doubles draw, Fuller is a two-time ITA All-American.

 

Fuller is the second Georgia Bulldog to win this award. Former Georgia letterwinner Cameron Ellis won in 2011.

 

The fourth-seeded Bulldogs (23-3) are set to take on 13th-seeded Clemson in NCAA Round of 16 on Fri., May 17 at 1 p.m. ET. in Champaign, Ill.