HADLEY, Mass. - Wesleyan junior Laila Samy (Cairo, Egypt) has been selected as the 2017 NESCAC Player of the Year as selected by the conference coaches after posting a record of 18-1 at the No. 1 position this season. Samy earns the distinction of becoming the first Cardinal to garner the honor and is the first player from a school other than Trinity to be recognized as the Player of the Year in women’s squash. The 2015 NESCAC Rookie of the Year also earned a spot on the First Team for the third straight season.

• Five players on the All-NESCAC First Team are repeat First Team honorees from last season, while three players were repeat Second Team All-NESCAC selections from last year. The All-NESCAC Second Team includes seven first-time all-conference recipients.
• Six Trinity players were recognized on the All-NESCAC team. Bates and Williams had three players land on the all-conference squad while Amherst and Tufts received two All-NESCAC selections each.
• Other Bantams earning First Team honors included Anna Kimberley and Raneem Sharaf. Kimberley, the 2014 NESCAC Rookie of the Year, earns her fourth straight All-NESCAC honor. She was a First Team selection in 2014 and 2015 and named to the Second Team last season. Kimberley is unbeaten at the No. 3 position for the Bantams. Sharaf is on the First Team for the third straight season and is unbeaten at the No. 1 position for Trinity.
• Williams junior Nicole Friedman is a repeat first team all-conference honoree. At the No. 1 position, Friedman is 12-1 this season. She helped the Ephs finish as the runner-up at this year’s NESCAC Championship.
• Sophomores Kristyna Alexnova of Bates and Beatrijs Kuijpers of Middlebury are repeat All-NESCAC honorees. Alexnova was the Rookie of the Year and a First Team selection last season. She owns a 13-5 record at the No. 2 spot for the Bobcats this year. Kuijpers was elevated to the First Team after earning Second Team honors as a rookie last season. She has played at the No. 1 position for the Panthers this year.
• Colby junior Devin Mullaney earns her third straight spot on the All-NESCAC First Team and Bowdoin senior Sarah Nelson moves up to the First Team after being selected for the Second Team the last two years. Mullaney plays at the No. 1 position for the Mules, while Nelson is the No. 1 player for the Polar Bears.
• Trinity first-year Vanessa Raj has been selected as the NESCAC Rookie of the Year. Raj, who also landed on the All-NESCAC First Team, is unbeaten this season for the Bantams. She is the sixth Trinity player to be recognized as the NESCAC Rookie of the Year, joining Nayelly Hernandez (2008), Nour Bahgat (2009), Catalina Pelaez (2011), Kanzy El Defrawy (2013), and Anna Kimberley (2014).
• Two other players joined Raj as first-time all-conference picks. Rookies Claire Davidson of Tufts and Luca Polgar of Bates landed on the First Team. Davidson, playing at the No. 1 position, helped the Jumbos claim their best NESCAC Championship finish since 2009. Polgar is 14-4 at the top spot for the Bobcats and led them to a third-place finish at the NESCAC Championship.
• Mark Lewis of Middlebury has been selected as NESCAC Coach of the Year by his peers. Lewis, who is in his second season at Middlebury, is receiving the award for the first time in his career. He is the second Middlebury coach to receive the honor, joining John Illig in 2009. Lewis guided Middlebury to a fourth place finish at the 2017 NESCAC Championship and will lead the Panthers into the College Squash Association (CSA) National Team Championships this weekend.

Women's Squash All-Conference Teams

First Team All-NESCAC Name Institution Year Hometown Kristyna Alexova Bates So. Boskovice, Czech Republic Claire Davidson Tufts Fy. Newport, R.I. Nicole Friedman Williams Jr. Great Neck, N.Y. Anna Kimberley Trinity Sr. Colchester, England Beatrijs Kuijpers Middlebury So.  Brooklyn, N.Y. Devin Mullaney Colby Jr. Boston, Mass. Sarah Nelson Bowdoin Sr. Concord, Mass. Luca Polgar Bates Fy. Budapest, Hungary Vanessa Raj Trinity Fy. Teluk Kumbar, Malaysia Laila Samy Wesleyan Jr. Cairo, Egypt Raneem Sharaf Trinity Jr. Cairo, Egypt         Second Team All-NESCAC Name Institution Year Hometown Rachael Ang Amherst So. Singapore Vicky Arjoon Bates So. Georgetown, Guyana Esther Baek Williams So. Tenafly, N.J. Salma Alam El Din Trinity Fy. Cairo, Egypt Kimberly Krayacich Amherst Jr. Chatham, N.J. Julia LeCoq Trinity Jr. Creteil, France Hayley Parsons Williams Jr. New Canaan, Conn. Lakeesha Rarere Trinity Fy. Gold Coast, Australia Catherine Shanahan Tufts Fy. Cincinnati, Ohio Lillie Simourian Hamilton Sr. Andover, Mass.

Player of the Year Laila Samy, Wesleyan   Rookie of the Year Vanessa Raj, Trinity   Coach of the Year Mark Lewis, Middlebury