Anna Roggenburk Named BIG EAST Freshman of the Year; Ahmeir Kyle and Kat Lyman Earn All-BIG EAST

NEW YORK - Following Xavier's BIG EAST Championship season, three Musketeers were named to the All-BIG EAST Team. Ahmeir Kyle and Anna Roggenburk were unanimous selections to the All-BIG EAST First Team, with Roggenburk earning the nod as Freshman of the Year for the conference while Kat Lyman earned a spot on the All-BIG EAST Second Team. Xavier's coaching staff also picked up conference honors, being tabbed as the BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year by the other league coaches.

The Musketeers are 17-3 on the season and on an eight-match win streak headed in the NCAA Tournament First Round match at Northwestern, set for Friday, May 7 at 4:00 p.m. ET.

Anna Roggenburk, the 2021 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year and a unanimous selection to the All-BIG EAST First Team, went 15-3 overall in singles play, including a 3-0 record in the No. 1 spot. Roggenburk, originally from Avon Lake, Ohio, also had a 5-1 record in No. 2 singles and 7-2 at No. 3 and is currently on a seven-match win streak. She's undefeated in singles play against BIG EAST opponents, including two matches in the No. 1 spot.

Roggenburk went 10-2 in doubles partnered with Imani Graham, including a 3-1 record at No. 2 and 7-1 record at No. 3. The pair helped clinch the doubles point in the BIG EAST Tournament matches against Marquette and St. John's.

Roggenburk was named the Most Outstanding Player of the BIG EAST Championship after going 4-0 during the tournament, including picking up wins in straight sets in the No. 2 singles spot in the semifinal against St. John's and in the No. 3 spot against DePaul in the Championship.

Roggenburk earned BIG EAST Athlete of the Week for the week of April 21.

Ahmeir Kyle also earned a unanimous selection to the All-BIG EAST First Team after going 10-3 in singles play at the No. 1 position. Among the singles wins for Kyle, who is originally from St. Joseph, Mich., were a pair of wins over ranked opponents from Louisville and Memphis in back-to-back matches during the regular season.

Kyle became the first Musketeer to be ranked in the ITA National Rankings for multiple weeks, including the last four weeks, reaching as high as No. 107 in the national rankings. As the highest ranked player from the conference, Kyle earned a spot in the NCAA Championships singles bracket beginning in late May, also a first for the program.

In doubles, Kyle went 9-8 with Emily Thomas, all played at the No. 1 spot. The duo picked up wins against Louisville and Memphis, and clinched the doubles point in the BIG EAST Championship against DePaul.

Kyle was also named BIG EAST Athlete of the Week the week of April 1.

Kat Lyman earned a spot on the All-BIG EAST Second Team after going 13-3 overall in singles action. Lyman played the bulk of her time at the No. 2 spot going 10-1, went 3-0 at the No. 2 spot and also played a pair of matches in the No. 1 spot. Among Lyman's singles wins was the BIG EAST-clinching match against DePaul.

Lyman, originally from Mount Pleasant, S.C., also has a 7-3 doubles record partnered with Kaitlin Ruether, playing primarily in the No. 2 spot. The pair are on a four-match win streak, including helping clinch the doubles point in the BIG EAST Semifinals and Championship matches.

Lyman earned an ITA national ranking of 123 during the spring of 2021 and was named the BIG EAST Athlete of the Week for the week of March 24.

WTEN Coach of the Year

Doug Matthews and his staff also picked up a BIG EAST honor, earning BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year as voted on by the conference coaches. Matthews, assisted by associate head coach Eric West, assistant coach Ryan Rasco and volunteer assistant Hailey Shanahan, led the Musketeers to a 17-3 record, including a 6-0 mark against BIG EAST teams.

This is the second Coaching Staff of the Year honor for Matthews and his staff since he was named head coach of the Xavier program prior to the 2015-16 season, also earning the honor in 2016. Matthews was a standout student-athlete for the Xavier's men's program from 2005-09, then served as an assistant coach for Xavier for five years before taking over as interim head coach in 2014-15.

The Musketeers are currently on an eight-match win streak, including winning the program's second-ever BIG EAST Championship. With the conference title, the team earned the program's second bid to the NCAA Tournament where Xavier will face Northwestern.

ALL-BIG EAST HONORS

The ballots were cast by the league's head coaches who could not vote for their own teams. The All-BIG EAST women's tennis all-conference teams are made up of six at-large selections each. Coaches could not vote for their own players. See below for the full listing.

BIG EAST Women's Tennis Player of the Year
Aspasia Avgeri, DePaul, Sr.

BIG EAST Women's Tennis Freshman of the Year
Anna Roggenburk, Xavier, RS-Fr.

BIG EAST Women's Tennis Coaching Staff of the Year
Xavier

All-BIG EAST First Team
(listed alphabetically)
Aspasia Avgeri, DePaul ^
Natalie Boesing, Butler
Annalise Klopfer, Villanova ^
Ahmeir Kyle, Xavier ^
Jessica Livianu, St. John's ^
Anna Roggenburk, Xavier ^

All-BIG EAST Second Team
(listed alphabetically)
Julianne Bou, Connecticut
Lexi DeNucci, Villanova
Yuliya Kizelbasheva, DePaul
Kate Krueger, Creighton
Alina Kuzmenkova, DePaul
Kat Lyman, Xavier

^ denotes unanimous selection

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