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Long Beach State University Athletics
Hilt-Costello, Razakasoa Sweep Big West Awards
4/29/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 29, 2014
IRVINE, Calif. -
Fresh off winning its 11th conference tournament title, the 55th-ranked Long Beach State women's tennis team earned all three major Big West awards including head coach Jenny Hilt-Costello being named the Coach of the Year and Maeva Razakasoa collecting both Player and Freshman of the Year awards.
Razakasoa becomes just the second player in Big West history to earn both awards in the same year, joining former 49er Hannah Grady who won in 2006. The Cranves-Sales, France native has been nothing sort of impressive during her first year as a member of Beach Tennis as she has put together a 29-5 singles record and gone 20-12 in doubles.
In conference matches, Razakasoa finished 7-1 in singles during regular season conference matches and she went on to avenge her only loss as she took down UCI's Sarah Gong to win the conference tournament title for LBSU last weekend.
"It is rare to have a player receive both awards in the same year, but Maeva definitely deserves this," Hilt-Costello said. "We are very proud and happy for her."
Razakasoa became the 5th LBSU player to collect the conference's top honor while becoming the 6th 49er in the last 10 years to be named Freshman of the Year.
In addition to Razakasoa's awards, Hilt-Costello was named the Big West Coach of the Year for the 8th time in her career. Hilt-Costello led Beach Tennis to a 20-2 mark on the season as well going a perfect 8-0 in Big West contests. During her tenure at the helm of Beach Tennis, Hilt-Costello's squads have gone undefeated in conference play six times in the last nine years.
Three other 49ers were also honored in the conference awards. Last year's Freshman of the Year honoree, Ebba Unden, was named to the first team in both singles and doubles for the second consecutive year. The Stockholm, Sweden native put together a 20-15 overall singles record and was 24-11 overall in doubles matches. Joining her in first-team honors for doubles was freshman Laura Eales. Hailing from Somerford Keyne, England, Eales stepped into the top spot in doubles with Unden mid-way through the season and the duo have been pivotal in helping LBSU ride its current 11-winning streak.
Closing out the awards for LBSU was freshman Julie Gerard, who was named honorable mention in singles. Gerard won all three matches during this past weekend's Big West Tournament en route to helping the 49ers clinch their fourth straight tournament title.
Players Mentioned
