Senior Kali Krisik earned the ITA/Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship for the Midwest region.

Krisik and McGaffigan Earn ITA Regional Awards

May 13, 2010

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – For the second straight season, two members of the Irish women’s tennis team were recognized with ITA regional awards, the association announced Thursday.

Senior Kali Krisik (Arkansas City, Kan.) earned the Midwest Region ITA/Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship, while freshman Chrissie McGaffigan (Davenport, Iowa) was named the ITA Midwest Region Rookie of the Year.

Krisik is the fourth Irish player to garner the regional Arthur Ashe award and the first since 2003. Wendy Crabtree earned the honor in 1995, followed by Jennifer Hall in ’99 and Katie Cunha in ’03. McGaffigan is the second player named the ITA Midwest Rookie of the Year. Sophomore Kristy Frilling (Sidney, Ohio) earned the honor last season.

According to the ITA Web site, The ITA/Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship goes to a player who has exhibited outstanding sportsmanship and leadership as well as scholastic, extracurricular and tennis achievements.

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Freshman Chrissie McGaffigan was named the ITA Midwest Region Rookie of the Year.

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Krisik is 16-3 in singles matches and a perfect 22-0 in doubles play this season. She and Frilling are ranked third in the nation with a 21-0 mark at No. 1 doubles. Krisik was named the 2010 BIG EAST Championship Most Outstanding Player and earned all-conference honors for the second straight year. At this year’s O.S.C.A.R.S awards banquet, she became the 10th women’s tennis player to receive the Byron V. Kanaley Award, the most prestigious honor awarded to a Notre Dame student-athlete, as well as the first to earn the Christopher Zorich Award, which recognizes contributions of Notre Dame student-athletes to the University and community at-large.

McGaffigan has made a major impact during her first season with the Irish. A consistent force in the Notre Dame lineup, she is 15-7 at No. 3 singles and 16-4 in doubles action, including an 8-0 mark at No. 3 doubles with teammate Kristen Rafael (Grand Prairie, Texas). McGaffigan was named the 2010 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year, the second straight player to earn the honor following Frilling in ’09.

Both Krisik and McGaffigan are now eligible to earn ITA national awards, which will be announced May 25.

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