May 21, 2001
STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford sophomore Laura Granville (Chicago, Ill.) has been named the women's tennis winner for the 2000-01 Honda Sports Award, given to the top woman collegiate athlete in the sport. As one of 12 winners, Granville becomes a nominee for the Honda-Broderick Cup, which is awarded annually to the nation's outstanding collegiate woman athlete of the year at the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year Banquet to be held on June 11, 2001 in Salt Lake City.
Granville, who led the Cardinal to the 2001 NCAA Team Championship on Monday, has put together a 40-1 overall record in her second year on The Farm and a 25-1 dual record. She didn't lose a Pacific-10 Conference match all year, going 22-0. She has claimed three tournament titles, including the ITA Regional in November, the Pac-10 Indoors in January and the ITA Indoor Championships in February.
Earlier this season, Granville won her 58th straight match at the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships to break the NCAA record for consecutive wins. She finished her freshman year on a 35-match winning streak and has a career record of 87-3.
She is the No. 1 ranked singles player in the country and also teams with Gabriela Lastra as the No. 2 doubles team. Granville will try to defend her 2000 NCAA Singles Championship this weekend in Stone Mountain, Georgia as she competes for the national title.
This is the second straight year that Stanford has won the tennis award, as Marissa Irvin was the recipient in 1999-00. Overall, a Stanford player has won the women's tennis Honda award nine times, including twice by Sandra Birch (88-89 and 90-91).
Others nominated for collegiate woman athlete of the year included Greichaly Cepero (Nebraska, volleyball), Marina Digiacomo (Old Dominion, field hockey), Meredith Florance (North Carolina, soccer), Kara Grgas-Wheeler (Colorado, cross country), Misty Hyman (Stanford, swimming) and Jackie Stiles (Southwest Missouri State, basketball). Only eight of the 12 nominees have been selected at this time.