LOS ANGELES — UCLA freshman Fangran Tian was named one of four finalists for the Class of 2023 Honda Sport Award for Tennis, it was announced Friday by Chris Voelz, Executive Director of THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA).
The Honda Sport Award has been presented annually by the CWSA for the past 47 years to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports and signifies “the best of the best in collegiate athletics”. The winner of the sport award becomes a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the prestigious 2023 Honda Cup which will be presented during the live telecast of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards Presented by Honda on CBS Sports Network on June 26, at 5:30 p.m. PT.
The tennis finalists were determined by final ITA rankings and NCAA competition. The Honda Sport award winner for tennis will be announced later this week after voting by administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools. Each NCAA member institution has a vote. Fiona Crawley (North Carolina), Lea Ma (Georgia) and Mary Stoiana (Texas A&M) round out the quartet of finalists.
Tian completed her first year of college tennis atop the sport last month, capturing the NCAA singles championship at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla. The Beijing native defeated six top-60 opponents in six days, running her records to 17-6 against nationally-ranked foes and 30-7 overall. Tian’s march to the NCAA singles title represented the first by a Bruin since Keri Phebus in 1995.
Tian won all 15 of her finished singles contests during the dual-match regular season, occupying the top spot in the lineup exclusively. In UCLA’s thrilling 4-3 home win versus No. 5 Pepperdine, she sealed the result with all eyes on her matchup with No. 11 Janice Tjen. Tian ultimately prevailed 7-6(1), 6-7(6), 6-3 in the marathon match, setting off a celebration of the Bruins’ second top-five victory of the campaign.
A winner in 11 of her final 13 doubles matches, as well, Tian was tabbed the Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year. She was also voted onto the All-Pac-12 First Team.
Tian could follow in the footsteps of past UCLA tennis winners Robin Anderson (2014 and 2015), Phebus (1995) and Jeanne Duvall (1978). The list of previous finalists is made up of Anderson, Riza Zalameda (2005), Sara Walker (2000), Phebus (1994 and 1995),…
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