Daavettila, Kalbas Named ACC Player & Coach Of The Year

GREENSBORO, N.C. - The Atlantic Coast Conference handed out its women's tennis postseason awards on Thursday and as expected they were dominated by the five-time running champions from North Carolina. Sara Daavettila was named ACC Player of the Year, while Brian Kalbas earned ACC Coach of the Year honors for the sixth time.

Carolina placed a program-record five student-athletes on all-league teams, led by Daavettila on the first team. Senior Alexa Graham and junior Cameron Morra were placed on the second team, while freshman Fiona Crawley and graduate student Makenna Jones were selected for the third team.

Kalbas adds to his trophy case with his 10th career league coach of the year honor. He earned the award previously at UNC in the 2010, '11, '12, '13 and '15 seasons. He also garnered CAA Coach of the Year honors at William & Mary in 1995, '96, '99 and 2002.

Daavettila, who hails from Williamston, Michigan, becomes the fifth Tar Heel to win the ACC Player of the Year award. She joins an exclusive club that includes Cinda Gurney (1991, '92, '93), Gina Suarez-Malaguti (2013), Jamie Loeb (2014, '15) and Hayley Carter (2016, '17).

In addition, Daavettila and Carter are the only two from UNC to garner both freshman and player of the year honors in their collegiate careers.

Currently ranked No. 2 in singles and No. 3 in doubles nationally, Daavettila has a 15-1 singles record this spring with five victories coming over top-25 opponents from the ACC. She was also named the Most Outstanding Player for a record third time at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships back in February.

Graham, from Garden City, N.Y., has compiled an 11-2 singles mark and is ranked No. 36 nationally.

From Rockville, Maryland, Morra has enjoyed another outstanding season in Chapel Hill. Ranked No. 3 in doubles with Daavettila and No. 25 in singles, Morra is 15-6 this spring in singles and 16-6 in doubles.

Crawley, the fantastic freshman from San Antonio, Texas, owns an unbeaten 25-0 mark in singles this spring and is ranked No. 31 in the nation. Her 25 wins are tied for the most in Division I this season.

Jones (Greenville, S.C.) has once again put together an amazing season for the Tar Heels. Ranked No. 28 in singles and No. 4 in doubles, Jones went 9-0 against the ACC, 15-2 overall in singles and is 10-3 in doubles.

Daavettila and Graham both earned their fourth career All-ACC selections, Jones was selected for the third time, while Morra adds her second career citation from the league office.

North Carolina (26-0) is riding a 44-match winning streak into the NCAA Team Championship. The selection show airs on Monday, May 3 at 6 p.m. ET on NCAA.com. The Tar Heels have been selected as a host site for the NCAA Regionals on May 7-8 at Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.

Players Mentioned

Fiona Crawley

Sara Daavettila

Alexa Graham

Makenna Jones

Cameron Morra

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