Women's Tennis | May 18, 2019

TEMPE, Ariz. – For the second time in her career, Western Michigan women's tennis senior Denise Azcui has been honored with the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Arthur Ashe Jr. Leadership & Sportsmanship Regional Award.

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"Denise is an outstanding representative of our women's tennis program and Western Michigan University," said head coach Ryan Tomlinson. "She leads by example each day on the court and in the classroom. It's pretty amazing to win this award one time and now she's done it in back-to-back years."

The Arthur Ashe Jr. Leadership & Sportsmanship Award is given annually to collegiate student-athletes who have shown great achievements on and off the court. A select group of accomplished student-athletes have been honored in this way since 1982. Ashe himself inaugurated the award and personally made the presentations until his tragic passing in 1993.

The award takes into account a player's tennis accomplishments, scholastic achievements and extracurricular endeavors, and recognizes players who excelled on and off the court as Ashe did during his life.  Sportsmanship, leadership and character are important criteria, as is giving back to the community.

ITA Regional Award Winners are selected by the regional committees while the ITA National Awards are selected by the national committee, which is comprised of one representative form each Region along with the Chair and Associate Chare of the D1 Operating Committee.

The Bloomington, Ind., native won the award last season and adds it to her growing list of honors. Back in March she was honored as a Western Michigan University Presidential Scholar. The industrial and entrepreneurial engineering major holds a 3.94 GPA. She was a two-time captain for the Broncos and earned Second Team All-MAC honors hits past season. Azcui is a two-time Academic All-MAC selection and a two-time MAC Distinguished Scholar honoree, and Is expected to add to those totals soon.