Dogs' Boeker named ITA Player of the Year

SKILLMAN, N.J. - Georgia tennis player Matias Boeker, who won the NCAA singles title last month, was named the 2002 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Player of the Year, the ITA announced Friday. <br> <br> Wake Forest&#39;s Bea Bielik earned the distinction on the women&#39;s side. Boeker and Bielik will be honored at the Tennis Week/ITA All-Star Award Ceremonies on August 23 in New York. <br> <br> Boeker, the 2001 ITA National Player of the Year, is the first two-time winner of the men&#39;s award, which dates back to 1980. Last month Boeker became only the fourth player to win consecutive NCAA singles titles in the last 50 years and first since Georgia&#39;s Mikael Pernfors in 1984-85. <br> <br> Boeker, a junior originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, went 28-3 this season on his way to the NCAA title and the No. 1 spot in the Omni Hotels national singles rankings. <br> <br> Boeker also led Georgia to the NCAA final and earned ITA All-American honors for the third time in his career. <br> <br> &#34;(Receiving this award) could not happen to a better guy or a better player,&#34; said Georgia head coach Manuel Diaz. &#34;He has been a tremendous leader for us. He is an outstanding individual and player.&#34; <br> <br> Boeker is the first Georgia honoree since Al Parker received such distinction did so in 1991. <br> <br> The ITA National Player of the Year award goes annually to the individuals who have had the most outstanding years in both individual and team competition, as determined by the ITA. <br> <br> The Tennis Week/ITA All-Star Award Ceremonies in August will also honor the 2002 Arthur Ashe/ITA Leadership and Sportsmanship Award winners (for Division I) and several of the top-ranked collegiate players from all ITA divisions in the Omni Hotels Collegiate Tennis Rankings. <br> <br> As the governing body of collegiate tennis the ITA promotes both the athletic and academic achievements of the collegiate tennis community. The ITA, which is based in Skillman, N.J., administers several national and regional championship events, the ITA Collegiate Summer Circuit, presented by the USTA, and the Omni Hotels Collegiate Tennis Rankings for men&#39;s and women&#39;s tennis at the NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and Junior College levels. The ITA also has a comprehensive awards program for players and coaches to honor excellence in academics, leadership and sportsmanship.

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