ITHACA, N.Y. – Junior Sarah O'Neil and sophomore Ryann Young were honored by their teammates at the annual women's tennis banquet. O'Neil was tabbed as the the team's most valuable player and most improved player, and Young was selected as completing the match of the year.
 
O'Neil was used exclusively at the No. 1 singles spot for the Big Red, posting an 8-10 record in the spring with a 2-5 mark in Ivy League matches. She was 8-5 in fall tournament play. O'Neil excelled in some of her toughest matches of the season, posting a 3-0 record in matches against ranked opponents. She defeated UMBC's Kim Berghaus, ranked No. 111 at the time of their Feb. 4 match, then twice knocked off Princeton's Hilary Bartlett. O'Neil shot up to the top spot in the lineup after competing primarily at Nos. 5 and 6 singles as a sophomore.
 
O'Neil also paired with freshman Lauren Frazier to comprise the Big Red's top doubles team down the stretch. Frazier and O'Neil were the No. 1 doubles team through the Ivy League season, posting an impressive 5-2 record against the other Ancient Eight's other top doubles teams. Their success culminated with a sweep of ranked pairs last weekend — 48th-ranked Sol Eskenazi and Jules Rodin from Penn and 40th-ranked Bartlett and Lindsay Graff from Princeton.
 
O'Neil and Frazier posted a 8-3 record overall, with all of their competition on the season coming at the No. 1 spot in dual matches. Their first match together was on March 3 against Fairleigh Dickinson — a 8-5 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson's Irina Dementyeva and Anna Rapoport.
 
The match which garnered Young's award came on March 23 at Coastal Carolina. With the Big Red wrapping up its Spring Break trip to the Carolinas and trailing the Chanticleers in the match, 3-2, Young was down 4-6, 2-5 in the second set. She fought off five match points against Mikaela Kristofersson and emerged with a second-set win in a tiebreaker, then rolled through the third set for a dramatic 4-6, 7-6, 6-0 victory that tied the team score at 3. O'Neil then secured the Big Red's 4-3 victory with a third-set win at No. 1 singles.
 
Professor David Usher was also recognized and awarded “Most Loyal Fan” for his more than 30 years of supporting the program as a fan and as the faculty adviser.