PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Tulsa senior Ksenia Laskutova, who led the Golden Hurricane to its third conference title in four years, was chosen as 2018 American Athletic Conference Women's Tennis Player of the Year by the league's head coaches.
UCF's Rebeka Stolmar was named as The American's Freshman of the Year, while the Knights' Bryan Koniecko was named The American's Coach of the Year after bringing UCF to the NCAA Championship for the first time since 2002.
ECU was the winner of the 2018 Team Academic Excellence Award for having the highest cumulative grade-point average at the start of the academic year.
Laskutova, a senior from Moscow, Russia, registered a 17-4 record in dual matches, including a 16-4 mark at No. 1 singles, to lead Tulsa to the American Athletic Conference title and the Golden Hurricane's 12th straight NCAA tournament appearance. She was the Most Outstanding Player at this year's American Championship after she earned the match-clinching victory against SMU in the final as part of a 2-0 showing in singles play during the week. She registered four wins against nationally ranked singles players in the 2017-18 season and enters the NCAA Championship as the No. 80-ranked player in the Oracle/ITA rankings.
Laskutova becomes the second Tulsa player to earn American Player of the Year honors, joining former teammate Saana Saarteinen, who won the award in 2016.
Stolmar, who hails from Budapest, Hungary, went 19-2 in singles in her freshman season at UCF, playing primarily at the No. 3 spot. She was 14-5 in doubles as she helped the Knights to a 19-4 record entering the NCAA tournament.
Koniecko was named as The American Coach of the Year for the first time after he helped the Knights earn the No. 1 seed in the conference championship and a No. 22 national ranking entering the NCAA tournament. UCF was ranked as high as No. 19 during the season - its highest rank in program history - and had seven wins against teams ranked in the ITA top 50. UCF defeated seven teams that were selected to the 2018 NCAA Championship.
Laskutova and Stolmar were both selected to The American's All-Conference Team by the league's head coaches. Laskutova joins ECU's Celia Ruiz, SMU's Karina Traxler and Wichita State's Fatima Bizhukova as unanimous selections of the head coaches.
Memphis senior Anki Wind completes her career as The American's first four-time all-conference selection in women's tennis, while Laskutova and Ruiz were named to the all-conference team for the third time. Houston's Tsveta Dimitrova was chosen for the second straight year.
2018 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TENNIS POSTSEASON HONORS
All-Conference Team
Maria Martinez, UCF
Rebeka Stolmar, UCF
Yelyzaveta Pletnyeva, UConn
Celia Ruiz, ECU *
Tsveta Dimitrova, Houston
Sveva Mazzari, Houston
Anki Wind, Memphis
Vanja Klaric, USF
Karina Traxler, SMU *
Ksenia Laskutova, Tulsa *
Martina Okalova, Tulsa
Fatima Bizhukova, Wichita State *
Sandra Honigova, Wichita State
* unanimous selection
Player of the Year
Ksenia Laskutova, Tulsa
Freshman of the Year
Rebeka Stolmar, UCF
Coach of the Year
Bryan Koniecko, UCF
Team Academic Excellence Award
ECU