Fiona Crawley from the University of North Carolina, Lea Ma from the University of Georgia, Texas A&M University’s Mary Stoiana and Fangran Tian from UCLA are the four finalists for the Class of 2023 Honda Sport Award for Tennis as announced by Chris Voelz, Executive Director of THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA) today.
The Honda Sport Award has been presented annually by the CWSA for the past 47 years to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA- sanctioned sports and signifies “the best of the best in collegiate athletics”. The winner of the sport award becomes a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the prestigious 2023 Honda Cup which will be presented during the live telecast of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards Presented by Honda on CBS Sports Network on June 26, at 8:30 ET/5:30 PT, in Los Angeles.
The tennis finalists were determined by final ITA rankings and NCAA competition. The Honda Sport award winner for tennis will be announced later this week after voting by administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools. Each NCAA member institution has a vote.
Crawley, a junior from San Antonio, Texas, finished the season atop the ITA rankings holding the No. 1 position for 11 weeks. She led her team to its first NCAA National Championship team title and captured the 2023 NCAA Doubles Championship title. She went 18-2 at No. 1 singles and ranks sixth place in all-time singles victories at UNC.
Ma finished her season ranked No. 3 by the ITA and was the No. 3 seed in the NCAA singles championship. She helped her team to a final ranking of No. 2 by ITA as they went 26-5 and advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Championships. The senior hailing from Dix Hills, N.Y., earned All-SEC honors three seasons in a row and is 82-26 overall for her career in singles.
Stoiana is a sophomore from Southbury, Conn., and was the 2023 SEC Player of the Year. She earned ITA All-America honors in both singles and doubles this season and finished the season ranked No. 2 in singles in the final ITA rankings. She also ranked as high as No. 2 this season in the ITA in doubles. She finished the season 11-0 in SEC play.
Tian, a freshman hailing from Beijing, China, was the 2023 NCAA Championship singles champion defeating six top-60 players in six days without dropping a set. She is the second Bruin to capture the singles crow and finished her debut ranked a career-high No. 8 in the ITA. She was named the Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year.
The CWSA, entering its 47th year, has honored the nation’s top NCAA women athletes for their superior athletic skills, leadership, academic excellence and eagerness to participate in community service. Since commencing its partnership in 1986, Honda has provided more than $3.4 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees to support women’s athletics programs.
About Honda Corporate Social Responsibility
For more than 60 years in the U.S., Honda has been committed to making positive contributions to the communities where its associates live and work. Honda’s mission is to create products and services that improve the lives of people while conducting its business in a sustainable manner and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. Accordingly, Honda believes in helping people reach their life’s potential through its focus on the areas of education, the environment, mobility, traffic safety and community. Learn more at http://csr.honda.com/.