KLIMEK BECOMES TENNIS PROGRAM'S FIRST NAIA ALL-AMERICAN
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – It only took one season for
Tamara Klimek to become the most decorated player in Missouri Baptist University women's tennis program history. To cap off an extraordinary year and one that helped propel her team into the national picture, Klimek has been named an All-American as announced by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) on Tuesday.
Following the NAIA Women's Tennis National Championship this past weekend, honorees were selected by the NAIA All-America committee with 16 student-athletes named to the first team, 16 to the second team and 15 named honorable mention.
Klimek becomes the first Spartan, male or female, to earn All-American honors in tennis. In notable fashion, she was considered one of the top-16 players in the NAIA this year and was named to the First Team.
The Novi Sad, Serbia native is the sole representative for the American Midwest Conference, while AMC champion William Woods landed one on the Second Team (Zlata Shuraeva) and one on the Honorable Mention list (Ana Zavala).
"I cannot say enough about Tam and the kind of player and person she is," said head women's tennis coach
Cole Stevenson. "Not only did she have an incredible year on the court, but her leadership, competitiveness, and work ethic off the court made everyone around her better. On the court speaks for itself: to not drop a set other than to a team that was ranked No. 1 in the nation? That is an unheard-of level of consistency. I am beyond thankful to have had Tam be a part of our program."
On the year, Klimek was 13-1 overall at No. 1 singles for the Spartans and teamed up with
Krista Tyson for all but one match to go 13-3 overall at No. 1 doubles. Klimek's only loss in singles competition came against fellow First Team All-American Megane Bianco, who plays for National Championship runner-up Keiser University.
In addition to All-American honors, Klimek took home awards for AMC Player of the Year, AMC/HAAC Player of the Year, AMC Newcomer of the Year, AMC Academic All-Conference, First Team All-Conference in singles and doubles, and was crowned AMC Player of the Week on three separate occasions.
To see the complete NAIA release,
click here.
