Weintraub, Vaidya Honored by the ITA
5/9/2016 3:39:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Full List of Winners
TEMPE, Ariz. - Columbia women's tennis head coach Ilene Weintraub has been named the 2016 Northeast Region Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year, and senior Kanika Vaidya picked up ITA Northeast Region Player of the Year honors, announced today by the ITA.
The awards for the pair come the same week that the Lions will head to Charlottesville, Virginia for the first round of the NCAA D-I Women's Tennis Tournament. No. 36 Columbia is slated to play No. 18 LSU on Friday, May 13 at 10 am.
Guided by Weintraub and assistant coach Riza Zalameda, Columbia put together a 13-8 season and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship. The Lions won three matches to become ECAC Champions back in February, having to battle No. 32 Dartmouth and Harvard on the same day to take home the trophy. In total, Weintraub coached four All-Ivy League players, including Vaidya, who was the conference Player of the Year honors.
As the lone senior consistently in the Columbia lineup, Vaidya provided vocal and on-court leadership, going 19-1 during her final spring as a Lion. Her most memorable win came on a spring break trip, when she topped the No. 6 singles palyer in the ITA, Miami's Stephanie Wagner. The senior was a perfect 7-0 against conference foes, collecting Ivy League Player of the Year honors as well as a first team singles award.
