Fiona Crawley of the University of North Carolina UNC named 2023 Honda Award winner

JUNE 18, 2023 02:30

Fiona Crawley of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) has been selected as the winner of the Honda Sport Award by tennis by the Collegiate Women Sports Awards, as announced by Chris Voelz, executive director of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards.

Crawley was selected by a vote of trustees from over 1,000 NCAA member schools. Other finalists for this year's tennis honor were Lea Ma (Georgia), Mary Stoiana (Texas A&M) and Fangran Tian (UCLA). Crawley becomes the second Tar Heel to be a finalist for the award in the last three seasons.

In 2021, Sara Daavettila was a finalist and finally won the award. Sports award winner becomes finalist for Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the prestigious 2023 Honda Cup, which will be presented live on CBS Sports Network June 26, at 8:30 am ET, in Los Angeles, California.

In 2022-23, Crawley won two Grand Slam singles events, spent the entire spring season in first place, and helped lead Carolina to a record 35 hits. Subsequently, she went undefeated in NCAA team play to help North Carolina win its first NCAA team title.

After leading UNC to its first national title, Crawley won the NCAA doubles championship under Carson Tanguilig and finished the season being named ACC Player of the Year and ITA National Player of the Year. Coach Brian Kalbas said: "In all my years of coaching, there has been no one more deserving of this award.

She embodies everything we want in an athlete who comes to North Carolina. The way she carries herself as a person, teammate and classmate, coupled with her accomplishments on the court, makes her uniquely qualified for this award.

What she accomplished last season was quite possibly the best single season in collegiate tennis history. What goes unnoticed is how gracious she is and thoughtful as a teammate and competitor. Both Tyler and I feel extremely fortunate to coach Fiona and as a program, we congratulate her on this tremendous achievement."

About the UNC

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, also known as UNC, is a public university in Chapel Hill in the US state of North Carolina.

Founded in 1789 at the start of George Washington's presidency, the institution began enrolling its first students in 1795, thereby claiming the title of one of the three oldest public universities in the United States. The first institution of higher learning in North Carolina, the school opened its doors to students on February 12, 1795.

The university offers degrees in more than 70 courses through 14 colleges and Colleges of Arts and Sciences. In 1951 North Carolina kicked off the desegregation process when African-American students were admitted under the direction of Dean Robert Burton House.

In 1952, North Carolina opened its first hospital, UNC Health Care, for research and disease treatment and has specialized in cancer research ever since. The institution's students, alumni, and sports teams are collectively known as the Tar Heels.

UNC has achieved notable successes in sports, particularly in men's basketball, where Michael Jordan played, in women's soccer and in women's field hockey.