May 15, 2013
SKILLMAN, N.J. - Senior Petra Januskova (Ottawa, Canada), junior Marie-Frederique Bedard (Montreal, Canada) and assistant coach Mike Fenwick were each recognized by the ITA Atlantic Region Tuesday. Januskova took home the region's Senior of the Year Award, Bedard received the Cissie Leary Award for Sportsmanship and Fenwick was named Assistant Coach of the Year.
Januskova finished her season racking up 27 singles victories tying the mark she set as a sophomore during the 2010-2011 season for second place on the all-time list. She holds the top spot in the record book with her 30 singles wins last season. She concludes her collegiate singles career with a 92-34 record, second-most wins all-time in program history behind only Olga Novikova who compiled 95 during her time at Penn State.
Januskova currently holds a 19-8 record in doubles play this season, primarily playing alongside Chelsea Utting (Peachtree City, Ga.). The duo made a late push entering the rankings in the poll released on March 12 and have moved all the way up to the No. 21 spot which they currently hold. Together they've knocked off five pairs who were ranked in the top 35 at the time including No. 9 Linda Abu Mushrefova and Nida Hamilton of No. 16 Northwestern and No. 3 Emina Bektas and Brooke Bolender of No. 6 Michigan.
Her 19 doubles wins thus far give her 62 for her career moving her into a tie for the top spot in the record books with Novikova. Both have 62 wins, however Januskova has five fewer losses than Novikova. Januskova can take sole possession of the career doubles record next week when she joins Chelsea Utting in the NCAA Doubles Tournament. The pair is the third to be selected to the tournament in program history.
Bedard received the Cissie Leary Award for Sportsmanship. In her third season with the Nittany Lions Bedard returned from injury to finish the season playing an important role for Penn State. Bedard started off fast winning five of her first seven singles matches including a victory over Shannon Murdy of No. 38 Indiana to tie the match at three and send it to the match at No. 1 where the Nittany Lions eventually pulled out the victory.
Bedard finished the season 6-6 in singles and 3-7 in doubles. Against No. 12 Nebraska she defeated Izabella Zgierska to earn the Nittany Lions only point of the match. She has been an All-Academic Honoree in each of the past two seasons.
This is not the first time Bedard has been recognized for her sportsmanship. As a freshman she was named a Sportsmanship Honoree at the Big Ten Banquet. The award honors those who distinguish themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. This Cissie Leary Award for Sportsmanship is given to an athlete who shows sportsmanship, character and excellent academics in addition to their tennis accomplishments.
Fenwick was named Assistant Coach of the Year in the Atlantic Region in only his third year at Penn State. The award comes following a season that saw the Nittany Lions climb the rankings higher than ever before. The team from Happy Valley began their season 9-0 and found themselves as high as No. 30 in the team poll.
Fenwick helped coach the Nittany Lions to a 14-8 record, the most wins in a season since they won 15 in the 2000-2001 season. Along the way Penn State knocked off four ranked opponents, two of which came on the road.
Under his and head coach Dawna Denny's leadership, the team had a player ranked in the singles poll and a pair ranked in the doubles poll. Januskova began the spring season at No. 27 following a successful fall campaign as well as joining Utting in the doubles poll where they worked their way up and into the NCAA Tournament.
It is the third time in school history a Nittany Lion duo has been selected to the NCAA Tournament and the first since Fenwick has been in Happy Valley. The bracket revealing who the Nittany Lion pair will face will be released on Tuesday, May 21.