SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced the 2020 Division I Women ITA Regional Awards on Monday afternoon. Furman's Katarina Kozarov was named the ITA Most Improved Senior for the Carolina Region, while Western Carolina was the Carolina Region's recipient of the ITA Cissie Leary Sportsmanship Award.

The Cissie Leary Sportsmanship Award has been presented since 1997 in memory of the late and widely admired Cissie Leary, who served as the women's tennis coach at Penn for over 20 years, and is given to a junior or senior player who has demonstrated extraordinary commitment and unwavering dedication to her team, with exceptionally hard work, courage, sportsmanship, and a positive attitude that makes people around her play better. Both Kozarov and Strickland are now in in consideration for the national award, which will be announced next week. 

A native of Novi Sad, Serbia, Kozarov, who last month became just the second All-American in the history of the Furman women’s tennis program, began her Paladin career playing in the middle of the singles lineup and at flight three doubles and surged to prominence at the top of the Furman lineup for both singles and doubles.  

The two-time reigning SoCon Player of the Year, Kozarov, who rose as high as 13th in this year’s national singles rankings, recorded a 10-1 record at flight one during the shortened 2020 spring season.  She defeated three ranked opponents in January, and all but two of her spring wins came in straight sets.  Kozarov posted an 8-5 record in fall competition, highlighted by a 7-6(6), 6-3 win over seventh-ranked Kelly Chen of Duke at the Debbie Southern Fall Classic in September.  

At the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa last fall, she scored four consecutive wins to reach the consolation finals, clinching an automatic entry into the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships.  Kozarov came from behind in the semifinals, winning 11 of the last 12 games, to beat No. 40 Valeriya Zeleva of UCF, 7-5, 6-1.  Kozarov downed then 20th-ranked Asuka Kawai of Illinois, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, and No. 87 Martina Cappuro of Oklahoma, 6-4, 6-4, to reach the semifinals.  Earlier in the week, she defeated No. 50 Jessica Failla of Pepperdine, 7-6, 7-6.  In the first round of the national fall championships, Kozarov topped No. 76 Rebeka Mertena of Tennessee, 7-5, 6-0.

Of Kozarov’s five fall losses, all were to ranked opponents, including three to the nation’s top three players.  Two of those, a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 loss to top-ranked Ashley Lahey of Pepperdine, and a 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 loss against No. 3 Estela Perez-Somarriba of Miami, came in three sets. 

In the shortened 2020 season, due to the CoVID-19 pandemic, Strickland, from Cary, N.C., broke both the career singles record (38) as well as the career doubles record (44). 

Prior to a halt of play she had a record of 2-6 in singles play and 5-4 overall in doubles play. When paired with sophomore Jacy Smith at No. 1 doubles the duo had a record of 5-1 Strickland Jacy Smith combined at No. 1 singles to defeat the No. 76th ranked Chattanooga duo (Emma Van Hee / Caroline Gibbens) in SoCon play. 

As a junior, Strickland was named to the SoCon All-Conference second team and won her second consecutive conference Sportsmanship Award. In her sophomore campaign, Strickland was SoCon Player of the Month for February and as a freshman, she and teammate Lauren McCall were tabbed SoCon All-Conference Second team in doubles.