STANFORD, Calif. – Monika Ekstrand and Caroline Driscoll were honored by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) when the organization announced its year-end regional awards on Tuesday. Ekstrand was named the Northwest region’s Rookie of the Year and Driscoll collected its Cissie Leary Sportsmanship award.
Ekstrand recently concluded a standout debut campaign, finishing her freshman season as the No. 40 singles player in the country, with a 21-9 overall record and a 15-6 mark in duals. She was one of two freshmen on the All-ACC Singles first team and played exclusively at the No. 1 spot all season, the first Cardinal freshman to do that since three-time All-American Connie Ma in 2022.
Ekstrand led the team with six clinchers and was the first freshman to pace Stanford in that category since Emily Arbuthnott in 2017. She was a two-time ACC Co-Freshman of the Week and went 9-5 against ranked opponents across both the fall and spring seasons.
Ekstrand is the Cardinal’s 13th ITA Northwest Region Rookie of the Year and fourth in the past five years (Valerie Glozman – 2025; Katherine Hui – 2024; Connie Ma – 2022).
On the court, Driscoll just wrapped up a career in which she went 86-36 overall, including 56-24 in duals. After playing her first two collegiate seasons at Denver, she transferred to Stanford and went 33-18 in singles for the Cardinal and was 26-14 in duals. Driscoll was ranked as high as 58th in the nation on Aug. 26, 2025, and was a two-time Academic All-District selection majoring in political science and boasting a 3.79 GPA.
A team captain this past season, Driscoll served as an Athlete-to-Athlete mentor, tutoring a cohort of young tennis athletes, providing individualized guidance on skill development, strategy and mental toughness. She was the sole representative of the women's tennis team at Student-Athlete Advisory Committee forums, communicating key issues and feedback to the Director of Athletics and executive staff to help shape athletic and academic policies.
Back in her hometown of Brookline, Massachusetts she volunteered at Sportsmen's Tennis and Enrichment Center, tutoring individual students ages 5–12 in Boston through the ‘School to Sportsmen’s’ program, providing academic support and building long-term confidence in children. Driscoll also led tennis instruction for young students as part of the community outreach program, teaching fundamentals to teach discipline and encourage a love for the game
An analyst with Stanford Management Group, Driscoll performing market and financial analysis for client companies, developing data-driven growth and strategy recommendations in a student-run consulting environment. She was also a member of the intern cohort at Rose Grove Capital last summer, gaining exposure to hedge fund operations and various investment vehicles.
Driscoll is the program’s seventh winner of the ITA Northwest Region Cissie Leary Sportsmanship Award, along with Connie Ma (2024), Sara Choy (2023, 2022), Emma Higuchi (2020), Veronica Li (2012) and Amber Liu (2006).