Laura Dimante Earns East Coast Conference Rookie of the Year Honor; Peerada Looareesuwan Named First Team All-ECC

ECC Women's Tennis All-Conference Release

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY – University of the District of Columbia's Laura Dimante was named the East Coast Conference Women's Tennis Rookie of the Year and junior Peerada Looareesuwan was named All-ECC First Team, as voted upon by the conference's coaches.

Dimante's rookie of the year award marks the first time a Firebirds women's tennis player has been so honored.  She was additionally named Second Team All-ECC for her success this year. Meanwhile, Looareesuwan (pictured below) becomes the third UDC women's tennis player to be named First Team All-ECC.

Dimante (Business Management – Riga, Latvia/Rigas Teikas) earns the honor of the conference's top rookie after putting together a standout debut season in the nation's capital. She was the only freshman in the ECC who played more than five matches to post a winning record, compiling a 7-3 overall record in both singles and doubles against Division II competition. In ECC play, she accumulated an identical record of 6-2 in both singles at the No. 3 flight and doubles, split between the No. 1 and No. 2 flights.

Looareesuwan (Computer Science – Bangkok, Thailand/Valdosta State University) also had a very impressive season for the Firebirds, going 7-3 overall, including a 5-1 mark in the ECC. She earned marquee victories this fall over Queens' Sumeera Kamil (2-6, 6-3, 10-8) and the match-point deciding victory over Klara Lang in the Firebirds' 5-4 win vs. Roberts Wesleyan.

The Firebirds (7-3, 6-2 ECC) are a No. 3 seed in the ECC Championship Tournament which gets underway today from Flushing, NY. Today's semifinal matchups include No. 1 NYIT vs. No. 4 LIU Post at 11 a.m. followed by No. 2 Queens vs. UDC at 2 p.m.