April 30, 2009
C-USA Original Article 
DALLAS (SMU)-Head coach Lauren Longbotham-Meisner was named Conference USA Coach of the Year after leading SMU to its best season in program history and the 2009 C-USA Women's Tennis Championship, while freshman Marta Lesniak was tabbed Freshman of the Year and C-USA Singles Player of the Championship, as well as Outstanding Doubles Team of the Campionship with freshman partner Aleksandra Malyarchikova as announced by the league office on Thursday, April 30.
Coming off an injury-plagued 2008 season, Meisner guided SMU to its finest season in school history in 2009. The Mustangs enter the NCAA Championship at 27-2, having won a staggering 17 matches in a row. The 27 wins, .931 winning percentage and 17 consecutive wins are all program bests. Along the way, SMU won the 2009 C-USA Championship, the team's first postseason tournament title. Meisner will be leading SMU to its first NCAA appearance since 2004 and the program's third appearance since 1988.
Lesniak was named C-USA Outstanding Singles Player of the Championship and the league's Freshman of the Year, after garnering first-team all-league recognition yesterday. The freshman helped secure the league title for the Mustangs with three straight-set wins at the No. 1 singles position during the C-USA Championship. Her 6-2, 6-2 win over Tulsa's Alexandra Kichoutkin in the championship match clinched the 4-1 win for SMU.
Lesniak burst onto the scene midway through the spring season and made an immediate impact when she downed nationally-ranked No. 2 Aurelija Miseviciute of Arkansas in a three-set thriller. She went on to post a 13-1 overall record at the top of the SMU lineup and is currently ranked No. 59 in the ITA singles rankings.
Lesniak and partner Aleksandra Malyarchikova played at the top doubles spot for SMU during the championship and secured two doubles points en route to earning the title of Outstanding Doubles Team of the Championship. The pair, currently C-USA's top ranked doubles team at No. 32, went a perfect 13-0 after joining the SMU lineup this spring. At the Championship, the duo secured wins over UTEP and Rice and they were leading 7-2 in the championship final against Tulsa, before SMU's other doubles teams secured the point.
