Kuczer Garners SEC Player of the Week Acclaim

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Following a perfect week in singles and three victories in doubles, Daria Kuczer was named the Southeastern Conference Player of the Week, the conference office announced Wednesday afternoon.

For Kuczer, the award marks her first SEC weekly honor of her career. The fifth-year senior capped off the week by defeating No. 25 Abigail Rencheli of NC State, 7-5, 6-2, on Sunday. The victory marked her fifth ranked win of the year and second against a top-25 opponent. Entering the season, the Szczecin, Poland native had played just three matches against a ranked foe.

“Every team has an individual who is the heartbeat of their team, for us, Daria is that person and she has been from the moment she stepped on campus,” head coach Alison Ojeda said. “What makes me so excited about her receiving SEC Player of the Week honors is that she has worked so hard for so long on her on-court skills. When you work as hard as Daria does, you gain a sense of belief in yourself and this award is a great tangible benchmark of all that work she has put in.”

Last week, Kuczer played the highest spot in the order of her career at No. 2 and thrived in that role. She had broken into the ITA Singles Rankings for the first time in her collegiate career in the end-of-fall rankings and continued to climb the charts, moving up to No. 38 in the first spring singles rankings, released by the ITA on Wednesday morning.

In doubles action she went 3-1, teaming up with Leyla Britez Risso for her first collegiate matches against Western Carolina, winning both of them. She and Eleonora Molinaro also played a big part in UT’s come-from-behind doubles win at Furman as the duo battled just to get to a tiebreaker on Court 2. Then, during the first-to-seven, win by two game, the pairing fell behind, but rallied to claim the match, 7-6(6), and keep the point alive which Elza Tomase and Lauren Anzalotta would claim shortly after.

For her collegiate career, Kuczer won her 75th career singles match at NC State on Sunday and is just one doubles win away from 75 in her career also.

Kuczer and the rest of the Lady Volunteers are off this weekend, but will be back in action on Friday, Feb. 17, when they host Charlotte and Bellarmine in doubleheader action.

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