STANFORD, Calif. - Sara Choy and Connie Ma both picked up regional awards from the ITA on Monday, as Choy won the Cissie Leary Sportsmanship Award for the Northwest Region, while Ma was named the Rookie of the Year.
Described by The Peter and Helen Bing Director of Women's Tennis Lele Forood as "someone who has shown more leadership and sportsmanship qualities than any player she can remember in her last 10 years at Stanford," Choy, a senior, led the Cardinal with 21 dual match victories at the No. 6 spot in singles this season and was a key conduit between the team and coaching staff throughout the year. Choy is known as a fair player in every regard and is very active in her community, preparing to earn a bachelor of science in biology. She owns a 68-20 overall record in singles for her career.
Ma, the NCAA Singles runner-up, is one of only four freshmen to be named an All-American in singles this season and she is the 30th freshman in program history to earn All-America accolades in singles and first since Michaela Gordon in 2018. Ma finished her rookie campaign ranked 12th nationally.
Ma became just the 14th unseeded player since event started in 1982 to advance to the championship match of NCAA Singles. She is the fifth freshman in Stanford history to advance to the championship match and first since Amber Liu in 2003. Ma's overall record on the year finishes at 32-9, and joining with fellow rookie Alexandra Yepifanova's record of 34-8, Stanford boasts two freshman with over 30 wins on the season for the first time since 2011 (Nicole Gibbs 46, Kristie Ahn 36). Ma earned a team-high 15 victories against ranked opponents on the year and was 15-5 at No. 1 singles, the most wins at the top spot since Carol Zhao in 2015 and most by a freshman at No. 1 since Hilary Barte in 2008.
