SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced the 2020 Division I Women ITA National Awards on Monday afternoon. Furman's Katarina Kozarov was tabbed the ITA DI Most Improved Senior, while Western Carolina's Jordan Strickland was the recipient of the ITA Cissie Leary Sportsmanship Award. A week ago, the pair were honored as recipients of their respective awards for the Carolina region.
The ITA announced its national awards via virtual ceremony presented by Oracle.
ITA Division I National Awards Ceremony Presented by Oracle:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4tsLPKNCAU&feature=youtu.be
A native of Novi Sad, Serbia, Kozarov, who was honored as the ITA Carolina Region Most Improved senior last week, in 2020 became just the second All-American in the history of the Furman women's tennis program. She began her Paladin career playing in the middle of the singles lineup and at flight three doubles and quickly moved to the top of the Furman lineup for both singles and doubles.
"I'm honored to have received the ITA National Most Improved Senior Award," said Kozarov. "These four years of playing for Furman have been an amazing, life-changing experience which makes this award that much more special, because it truly represents one of many incredible things this program stands for, #1daybetter. I am beyond thankful to my teammates and coaches for believing in me and pushing me every day on and off the court."
"This is a huge honor for Katarina and for our program," said Furman head coach Adam Herendeen. "Katarina came into our program and made an impact right away, but I have never seen a player improve as much as she has over the past four years. Each year she was able to exceed all of the expectations, and I am thrilled to see all her hard work pay off in how much she has improved."
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.
The national honor is the second Strickland has received from the ITA this year. Earlier this month, she received the same sportsmanship award for the Carolina Region.
Strickland is the first Catamount player to receive the honor which recognizes a player who displays inspiring dedication and commitment to her team that has enhanced her team's performance and exemplified the spirit of college tennis. The award dates back to 1997 and is named in memory of the late and widely admired Penn women's tennis coach Cissie Leary.
"I am very proud of Jordan. Jordan excelled on and off the court throughout her career as a Catamount," said Western Carolina Head Coach Bret Beaver. "I feel grateful to have had the opportunity to coach Jordan; she raised the level of our program every time she took the court whether that be at practice or during matches."
In the shortened 2020 season, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cary, N.C., native broke both WCU's career singles (38) and career doubles victories record (44).
Prior to a halt of play, Strickland had a record of 2-6 in singles 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 and Smith combined to defeat the No. 76th ranked Chattanooga duo (Emma Van Hee /Caroline Gibbens) in Southern Conference play.
As a junior, Strickland was named to the second-team All-SoCon and won her second consecutive conference Sportsmanship Award. In her sophomore campaign, Strickland collected SoCon Player of the Month honors for February and as a freshman, she and teammate Lauren McCall were tabbed second-team All-SoCon in doubles.
Strickland graduated Magna Cum Laude this spring with a BS in Business Administration; Computer Information Systems major with a minor in Visual Analytics for Decision Making. She was a member of the Western Carolina Honors College and is a three-time SoCon Honor Roll award winner. She was also named SoCon Spring Academic All-Conference.
"I have no doubt Jordan will continue to thrive at grad school and whatever path she chooses beyond.," Beaver said. "Jordan is well deserving of the Cissie Leary Award and myself and the entire Catamount family could not be more thrilled for her."