Fanning Earns ITA Regional Cissie Leary Award for Sportsmanship

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Recently graduated Kentucky senior Emily Fanning was named the recipient of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Cissie Leary Award for Sportsmanship for the Ohio Valley region, the organization announced Monday.
 
The sportsmanship award is presented each year to a junior or senior player who has demonstrated extraordinary commitment and unwavering dedication to her team, with exceptional hard work, courage, sportsmanship and a positive attitude that makes people around her play better.
 
“I am honored to receive this award,” said Fanning. “The most important aspect of competition is sportsmanship. No matter the result, sportsmanship consists of respect, integrity and graciousness. This is what I believe in and aspire to be every day.”
 
The award has been presented since 1997 in memory of the late and widely admired Cissie Leary, who served as the women’s tennis coach at Penn for nearly 20 years.
 
Having been selected the regional honoree, Fanning will be consideration for the national Division I award which will be released May 23. She is the fourth Wildcat to earn the regional award in program history.
 
Fanning had a tremendous senior season for the Wildcats, earning All-SEC honors for the first time in her career as she was named to the second team. The Timaru, New Zealand, native clinched SEC victories over Tennessee and Texas A&M with big wins on the No. 1 singles court and turned in three ranked singles victories in conference play. Perhaps the most memorable event of the season was Fanning going undefeated through her senior weekend, posting a 4-0 combined record in singles and doubles, all against ranked foes.
 
For the latest on the Kentucky women’s tennis program, follow @UKWomensTennis on Twitter and Instagram, on Facebook at Facebook.com/UKWomensTennis and on the web at UKathletics.com.