JACKSONVILLE,
FLA. -- The Peach Belt Conference announced the 2003 women's tennis
All-Conference team from the annual tennis banquet on the eve of the PBC
Tournament, being played in Jacksonville, Fla. at the University of North
Florida. Armstrong Atlantic State's Zsofi Golopencza was named the PBC Player of
the Year for the third straight time, while Georgia College & State
University's Mia Paavilainen was named the Freshman of the Year and GC&SU
coach Steve Barsby the Coach of the Year.Golopencza becomes the second woman to win three Player of the Year awards but the first to win three consecutively, former AASU standout Sandra van der Aa won in 1995, 96 and 98. Golopencza is the #1 ranked singles player in the nation after beating former #1 Adrienn Hegedus of BYU-Hawaii last week. The junior from Budapest, Hungary, was a perfect 9-0 this spring for the Lady Pirates, playing all her matches at #1singles.
Mia Paavilainen is the first tennis player from GC&SU to win the Freshman of the Year award. She played at #2 singles for the 2003 PBC Champion Lady Bobcats, with a 12-4 overall record in the spring, 8-1 against Peach Belt opponents. The freshman from Akesberga, Sweden, is the #15-ranked player in the country.
Steve Barsby wins his first PBC Coach of the Year after leading the upstart GC&SU Lady Bobcats to the 2003 PBC Championship. Barsby, in his third year at the school, led the team to an undefeated 9-0 PBC record, 16-3 overall. GC&SU is currently ranked #7 in the nation.