Raquel Amaro, Victoria Sanchez Honored as All-SSC Selections

MELBOURNE, Fla. – Twenty-two student-athletes have been named to the 2023 All-Sunshine State Conference women's tennis teams, as the University of Tampa had a pair of honorees in Raquel Amaro and Victoria Sanchez. Barry University collects six league awards following the SSC regular-season and postseason titles. Voting for the All-SSC teams was conducted among the league's women's tennis coaches.

Women's Tennis All-SSC History: All-SSC Teams | Athletes & Coaches of the Year

Amaro, a graduate student from Caracas, Venezuela, was a first-team singles and second-team doubles selection for the Spartans. In her first season at UT, she was listed in the national rankings all season, rising to as high as No. 13 in the nation. She concluded the 2023 season with a 13-5 singles record, also going 3-2 against nationally-ranked opponents. All of her matches were played at the number-one spot for the Spartans. She becomes the first player in program history to be named a first-team all-SSC selection.

Sanchez, a junior from Barcelona, Spain, joined her doubles partner as a second-team selection in doubles. The duo was ranked as high as No. 8 in the nation, and spent three weeks in 2023 in the national top-10. Playing together at the number-one spot, the duo registered a 13-5 record, including a pair of wins over nationally-ranked opponents.

Salma Djoubri of Lynn University has been awarded Athlete of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors by league coaches. The Caudebec Les Elbeuf, France native, finished the spring season with a 14-4 overall singles record, including 6-1 in SSC play, all in the #1 position. Djoubri tallied a 14-5 overall doubles record with a 10-4 mark at the #2 position and a 4-1 tally in the top spot. She is the second player in conference history to be named Athlete and Freshman of the Year in the same season. She is the seventh Fighting Knight named Player of the YearB, and the fourth named Freshman of the YearC. The Sunshine State Conference Athlete of the Year award is presented by College Ave Student Loans.

Barry's Avi Kigel is named SSC Coach of the Year by his peers after leading Barry to a 19-0 overall record in the regular season, a seventh regular-season title, and a 14th conference tournament championship. Under Kigel, No. 1 Barry heads into the NCAA regional riding an 83-match win streak and searching for a sixth consecutive national title. The honor is the eighth of Kigel's career and the 12th in program history.

NSU's Natalie Espinal and Saint Leo's Marta Vicens Miquel collect their fourth career First Team Singles awards. They join the list of six former conference athletes who won four First Team awards in singles throughout their careerD. This year a total of nine award winners repeat as All-SSC, including two former Athletes of the Year in Espinal and her teammate Julie Razafindranaly.

Athlete of the Year: Ivan Marrero, Saint Leo
Freshman of the Year: Mario Garoz, Florida Southern
Coach of the Year: Chad Berryhill, Saint Leo