Bencheikh, Sedlackova Earn Southeastern Conference End-of-Year Honors
4/28/2022 2:03:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Loudmilla Bencheikh was a First Team All-SEC selection, while Petra Sedlackova was named Second Team All-SEC while also earning a spot on the All-Freshman Team
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. –– Alabama women's tennis team standouts Loudmilla Bencheikh and Petra Sedlackova were selected for Southeastern Conference awards, the league office announced Thursday.
Bencheikh was named a First Team All-SEC selection, marking the second consecutive year she received an end-of-year nod from the league office after being named a SEC All-Freshman honoree last season. Sedlackova was named Second Team All-SEC while also earning a spot on the All-Freshman team.
Alabama has had an athlete earn SEC all-conference honors every year since 2008 (SEC postseason awards were not awarded in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), totaling 53 total selections including this year's honors.
Sedlackova is the first UA freshman to be recognized on the all-freshman team and either the first or second all-conference team since Andie Daniell was named an All-SEC second team and All-Freshman honoree in 2016. She is also the 10th Crimson Tide rookie to earn all-freshman honors and the 16th player to be named a second-team honoree. Bencheikh is the 13th player in Alabama history to secure first-team honors.
From Head Coach Jenny Mainz
"We're all proud of Loudmilla and Petra on their respective SEC Awards. Both Loudmilla and Petra have continued to invest in their improvement and they've both been outstanding at the top of our lineup. This recognition is incredibly difficult to achieve due to the competitive SEC league and all of the elite players. This is a boost for our program and demonstrates the bright future of this young team."
SEC All-Conference Honors ??
— Alabama Women's Tennis (@AlabamaWTN) April 28, 2022
Congratulations Loudmilla Bencheikh and Petra Sedlackova
??https://t.co/zmlGWk0GoJ#RollTide | #LoveTheGrind pic.twitter.com/t6GgsWcN0h
Loudmilla Bencheikh | First Team All-SEC
- Currently ranked 69th nationally in singles
- Has competed at the No. 1 singles position for the Tide all season in addition to playing No. 1 in doubles throughout the regular season
- Since the ITA released its rankings on Dec. 8, she has maintained a national ranking in singles in all but one bi-weekly poll
- Recorded a season-high ranking of 17th in doubles
- Throughout the year, she has recorded 15 singles wins, 11 during dual matches, and the second-most doubles wins on the team at 21, including 12 wins in dual matches
- During the fall, Bencheikh and Anne Marie Hiser won the ITA Southern Regional Doubles Draw, becoming the first players from Alabama to qualify for the ITA National Fall Championships since 2016
- The UA duo went undefeated at the ITA Southern Regional Championships, beating four seeded opponents on the way to the title
- Recorded five singles wins over ranked opponents, defeating then-No. 27 Sabina Machalova (Ole Miss), then-No. 43 Anna Ross (Vanderbilt), then-No. 54 Julia Adams (Furman), then-No. 57 Selin Ovunc (Auburn) and then-No. 114 Karine-Marion Job (Kansas State)
Petra Sedlackova | Second Team All-SEC, All-Freshman Team
- The No. 67-ranked singles player in the country and member of the No. 63-ranked doubles team with partner Anna Parkhomenko
- Advanced to semifinals in singles and quarterfinals in doubles at the ITA Southern Regional Championships
- Began her collegiate career by winning 12 of her first 14 singles dual matches
- Holds a team-leading 23 singles victories, including a 16-3 record in dual matches and 6-2 record in SEC play
- Captured 17 doubles victories, with 11 dual match wins and six conference wins
- Led UA to its first win over a top-10 program since 2015 with a straight set win over UGA's then-25th-ranked and No. 1 singles player Lea Ma
- Concluded the year winning three of four consecutive top-30 ranked doubles matches, defeating then-No. 30 Megan Davies and Sarah Hamner (South Carolina) and then-No. 15 Anna Hertel and Morgan Coppoc (Georgia) in the regular season, and then-No. 71 Rebeka Mertena and Esther Adeshina (Tennessee) at the SEC Tournament
Get the latest information on the team by following AlabamaWTN on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and Alabama Athletics on Facebook.
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