Tuesday, 02/17/2009

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Virginia's Drew Courtney has been named Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Tennis Player of the Week, and North Carolina's Sanaz Marand received the Women's honor after their performances in ITA National Team Indoor Championships last weekend.



Courtney led the fifth-ranked Cavaliers as they captured the Men's Indoor Championships in Chicago, Virginia's second consecutive title and only the second in ACC history (last season's title was the first). The Cavaliers (12-0) defeated 12th-ranked Tulsa, fourth-ranked UCLA, eighth-ranked Tennessee and third-ranked Georgia en route to claiming the trophy.



Courtney, a freshman from Clifton, Va., went 4-0 competing at No. 6 singles, including winning the championship-clinching the match against Georgia. The win over the Bulldogs' Josh Varela was in comeback fashion, as Courtney rebounded after losing the first set 6-0 for a 0-6, 6-0, 7-5 win. He has now won eight consecutive matches and is 9-1 overall in dual match play. He teamed with Lee Singer to go 2-1 at No. 3 doubles, including the doubles point clinching win over Tulsa.



Competing for the Tar Heels in the Women's Indoor Championships at Madison, Wisc., Marand scored a big singles win of 19th-ranked Taylor Ormond of Baylor, 6-4, 6-3 in No. 1 singles competition and later added a 6-0, 6-1 win over Wisconsin's Elizabeth Carpenter.



Marand also combined with teammate Sophie Granbinski to score an 8-5 doubles win over Baylor's third-ranked Lenka Broosova and Csilla Borsanyi. Marand and Grabinski also teamed up for an 8-3 doubles win over 41st-ranked Lindsay Burdette and Hilary Barte of Stanford.