Colorado State University Athletics
Trio of Rams Earn Conference Honors
4/30/2020 11:05:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Cliffe, Luetschwager and Palermo named All-Mountain West
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Junior Emily Luetschwager and senior Stella Cliffe repeated their all-conference honors from the year before, while junior Priscilla Palermo was a first-time honoree as the 2019-20 All-Mountain West tennis team was released by the conference Thursday.
Luetschwager and Cliffe were named to the team at doubles after becoming the program's first tandem to be ranked nationally, finishing the coronavirus-shortened campaign at No. 79. They were 14-4 after being paired together late in the fall, posting an 8-1 mark at the No. 1 spot during the dual season. Two of their victories came against teams rated above them in the polls.
"We put them together at regionals in the fall, and they did well. We kept them together throughout the spring, and to go 8-1 at No. 1 doubles is very impressive," coach Jarod Camerota said. "They have wins over other ranked teams, and being the first nationally ranked doubles team in the history of the program speaks highly of them and shows we're progressing and moving forward as a program."
This marks Cliffe's third All-MW honor, making the team last year at both singles and doubles. This is the second time for Luetschwager, who was named as a singles player the year before.
For Palermo, it's her first postseason honor, and it comes as a singles player after posting a team-best 13 victories, going 8-2 in tournament play, 5-4 during the dual season. Four of her victories came at the No. 3 spot, but she moved up to No. 2 and won her only match there as the season was cut short, winning her final three matches.
"It's great to see Priscilla progressing, as well, and it's great to have her get her first All-Conference recognition," Camerota said. "We moved her up to No. 2 at the end, and she had our best record and was continuing to improve. I think she's mentally tough, and even if she lost two, three games in a row, there was no way it was going to break her. Her confidence was really high by March."
The doubles team is just the fifth to earn All-Mountain West accolades in program history, with Palermo the 14th singles player. This marks the first time in the Rams' Mountain West history to have all-conference selections at both singles and doubles in back-to-back seasons.
The back-to-back singles honors for the team marks the first time since 2012-13; at doubles, successive selections had not occurred since a three-year run from 2006-08.
Luetschwager and Cliffe were named to the team at doubles after becoming the program's first tandem to be ranked nationally, finishing the coronavirus-shortened campaign at No. 79. They were 14-4 after being paired together late in the fall, posting an 8-1 mark at the No. 1 spot during the dual season. Two of their victories came against teams rated above them in the polls.
"We put them together at regionals in the fall, and they did well. We kept them together throughout the spring, and to go 8-1 at No. 1 doubles is very impressive," coach Jarod Camerota said. "They have wins over other ranked teams, and being the first nationally ranked doubles team in the history of the program speaks highly of them and shows we're progressing and moving forward as a program."
This marks Cliffe's third All-MW honor, making the team last year at both singles and doubles. This is the second time for Luetschwager, who was named as a singles player the year before.
For Palermo, it's her first postseason honor, and it comes as a singles player after posting a team-best 13 victories, going 8-2 in tournament play, 5-4 during the dual season. Four of her victories came at the No. 3 spot, but she moved up to No. 2 and won her only match there as the season was cut short, winning her final three matches.
"It's great to see Priscilla progressing, as well, and it's great to have her get her first All-Conference recognition," Camerota said. "We moved her up to No. 2 at the end, and she had our best record and was continuing to improve. I think she's mentally tough, and even if she lost two, three games in a row, there was no way it was going to break her. Her confidence was really high by March."
The doubles team is just the fifth to earn All-Mountain West accolades in program history, with Palermo the 14th singles player. This marks the first time in the Rams' Mountain West history to have all-conference selections at both singles and doubles in back-to-back seasons.
The back-to-back singles honors for the team marks the first time since 2012-13; at doubles, successive selections had not occurred since a three-year run from 2006-08.
- CSURams.com -
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