Knights' Hemmelman earns top honor to highlight UMAC women's tennis awards
ST. PAUL, Minn.---The 2018 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) women's tennis season saw a lot of different firsts including a first-ever awarding of a UMAC automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA tournament. Other notable firsts include a first-year program earning a berth to the UMAC postseason tournament and the first Player of the Year during the NCAA era not coming from the College of St. Scholastica or the University of Northwestern.
In the first year as a program, University of Wiscopnsin-Superior saw Kolin Dean selected UMAC Coach of the Year for his leadership of the start-up squad, and Anna Hemmelman of Martin Luther College was named Player of the Year, announced Tuesday.
Under Dean's leadership, the Yellowjackets qualified for the conference tournament during their debut season after finishing third with a conference record of 5-2 and overall mark of 9-10. In conference play, Dean's squad won four matches by scores of 9-0 and their fifth win came in an impressive 5-4 win over Martin Luther. As a first-year coach, Dean had five six players record four or more UMAC singles wins and two earn All-UMAC honors in their first collegiate seasons.
In just her second season with the Knights, Hemmelman dominated the UMAC to help Martin Luther qualify for the postseason. She went a perfect 7-0 at No. 1 singles and 13-3 overall. The sophomore ended her season on an 11-match singles winning streak. She also went 6-1 in UMAC doubles and 9-7 overall from the No. 1 spot all season.
Six of Hemmelman's seven singles wins came in straight sets. In a weather shoretened season, Hemmelman still managed to record her 20th career singles win with all of them coming at the No. 1 position. She is also 13-4 in her career in UMAC singles matches.
Northwestern highlights the All-UMAC list with a conference-leading five honorees including Brooke Lapinski who earned the honor for the fourth time in her career. The regular season Saints had two seniors selected who have earned All-UMAC accolades three times in their four-year careers – Sarah Coryell and Daniela Rojas.
In addition to Hemmelman, three other players picked up back-to-back all-conference honors including Martin Luther teammate Rachel Riediger and Northwestern's Nikki Paskewitz and Emily Knight.
Each year the UMAC recognizes the team sportsmanship award, an accolade that is selected by the UMAC coaches and awarded to the team that best represented sportsmanship throughout the entire season. Northwestern earned the honor for the fifth-consecutive season. Each team also had one representative on the individual sportsmanship award list.
Player of the Year Award* – Anna Hemmelman, So., Martin Luther
Coach of the Year Award – Kolin Dean, Wisconsin-Superior
First-Team UMAC All-Conference
| Name |
Year |
School |
Hometown/High School |
| Alexia Brascugli |
Sr. |
St. Scholastica |
Eveleth, Minn./Eveleth-Gilbert |
| Sarah Coryell |
Sr. |
St. Scholastica |
Golden Valley, Minn./Armstrong |
| Anna Hemmelman |
So. |
Martin Luther |
Winona, Minn./Luther |
| Emily Johnson |
Sr. |
Minnesota Morris |
Circle Pines, Minn./Centennial |
| Emily Knight |
Jr. |
Northwestern |
Fort Dodge, Iowa/Fort Dodge |
| Brooke Lapinski |
Sr. |
Northwestern |
Chanhassen, Minn./Chanhassen |
| Gracie Lebrun |
So. |
Northwestern |
Pine City, Minn./Pine City |
| Nikki Paskewitz |
Jr. |
Northwestern |
Staples, Minn./Staples-Motley |
| Rachel Riediger |
Sr. |
Martin Luther |
West Salem, Wis./Luther |
| Daniela Rojas |
Sr. |
St. Scholastica |
Monterrey, Mexico/Universidad Tecmilenio |
| Shawna Spears |
Fy. |
Northwestern |
Thief River Falls, Minn./Lincoln |
| Allison Tollas |
So. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Ashland, Wis./Ashland |
| Emily Wald |
Fy. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Antigo, Wis./Antigo |
UMAC Sportsmanship Awards
Team Award – Northwestern
Bethany Lutheran – Leah Schaefer, Jr., Belle Plaine, Minn./Belle Plaine
Crown – Veronika Mykailiuk, Fy., Pereyaslav-Khmel’nyts’kyi, Ukraine
Martin Luther – Anna Hemmelman, So., Winona, Minn./Luther
Minnesota Morris – Emily Johnson, Sr., Circle Pines, Minn./Centennial
North Central – Sierra Hunter, So., Dillsburg, Penn./Northern
Northwestern – Nikki Paskewitz, Jr., Staples, Minn./Staples-Motley
St. Scholastica – Sarah Coryell, Sr., Golden Valley, Minn./Armstrong
Wisconsin-Superior – Emily Sherrard, Fy., Bayfield, Wis./St. Croix Lutheran