SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Chattanooga’s Katie Polk has been named the Southern Conference Women’s Tennis Player of the Week for all matches played April 11-17. Polk went 2-0 in singles play and was 2-0 in doubles matches last week as the Mocs closed the regular season with wins over Western Carolina (6-1) and Samford (5-2).

With two wins in singles play last week, Polk improved to 14-1 this spring and finished the regular season with a 6-1 mark in conference matches.  She cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 win over WCU’s Elizabeth Ansari and posted a 6-3, 7-5 win over Samford’s Annika Hepp.  Polk has now won six straight singles matches for the Mocs.

Polk was paired with Samantha Caswell at No. 2 doubles.  UTC’s pair claimed a 6-2 win over WCU’s Megan McLinden and Savannah Taranto before earning a 7-5 decision over Samford’s Hepp and Ellie Gerlach.  Polk and Caswell trailed Hepp and Gerlach, 5-2, before winning five straight games to finish the regular season with a 10-5 record together.

Chattanooga (14-7, 5-2 SoCon) earned the No. 3 seed in this week’s Southern Conference Women’s Tennis Tournament.  The Mocs will square off against No. 6 UNCG (8-12, 2-5 SoCon) Friday afternoon.

Other top performers in the Southern Conference included ETSU’s Marina Espana, Furman’s Ansley Speaks and Samford’s Jessica Northcutt.

SoCon Women’s Tennis Player of the Week
Feb. 9 – Marina Espana, ETSU
Feb. 16 – Kayla Jones, Chattanooga
Feb. 23 – Katia Stravroulaki, Mercer
March 1 – Stacia Kissell, Western Carolina
March 9 – Xandra Fougner, Mercer
March 15 – Katia Stravroulaki, Mercer
March 22 – Katarina Weymouth, Furman
March 29 – Jessica Northcutt, Samford
April 6 – Kayla Jones, Chattanooga
April 12 – Katarina Weymouth, Furman
April 18 – Katie Polk, Chattanooga