Walther, Ciliberti selected All-CCC women's tennis

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Eight different institutions that sponsor women's tennis from the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) were represented on the 2013 All-CCC Women's Tennis Team, including Salve Regina University sophomore Kasey Walther (Natick, Mass.) and freshman Gina Ciliberti (West Islip, N.Y.).

Walther returns to the all-conference team for her second straight year. Holding the top singles position on the Seahawks for the second straight year, Walther defeated two conference opponents in back-to-back matches with identical 6-0, 6-0 scores. Pairing with freshman Emma Gruber (New Canaan, Conn.), Walther has also posted a 4-1 mark in dual match doubles play.

Ciliberti gets recognition in her first year in the league. A high school badminton champion at St. John the Baptist (N.Y.), Ciliberti posted singles wins in dual matches at Eastern Nazarene and Wentworth, the latter clinching a playoff spot for the Seahawks. She has paired with Gruber and junior Hayley Maxwell (Pound Ridge, N.Y.) in doubles.

Salve Regina (3-7; 3-5 CCC) earned the sixth seed and plays at third seed Roger Williams (9-4; 7-1 CCC) today at 4 p.m.

In addition to the all-conference team, four major individual award winners and the team sportsmanship award winner were selected. Endicott College junior Chrissy Martel was named CCC Player of the Year and Gordon College freshman Caroline Hall was recognized as the CCC Rookie of the Year. Nichols College senior Anna Dyakiv was selected as the CCC Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year, while Endicott's Jeremy Howard was honored as CCC Coach of the Year and Eastern Nazarene College was the recipient of the Team Sportsmanship Award.

Voting for the All-CCC team and the major awards was conducted among CCC head women's tennis coaches.