PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Senior Amy Zhang of the Rutgers tennis team has been named the recipient of the 2011 Women’s ITA/Arthur Ashe Jr. Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship, the organization announced Wednesday. This is the first ITA national award for the RU tennis program as Zhang was selected from 12 regional winners.
“This is a great tribute to Amy’s spectacular career at Rutgers,” said head coach Ben Bucca. “Receiving this national award is a testament to her athletic accomplishments, tremendous work in the classroom and involvement in the community. It is a great acknowledgement to her and a great honor for our program.”
With a 16-6 singles record, Zhang was named to the All-BIG EAST Team for the third consecutive season. She finished her career with a perfect 29-0 at home, playing in the No. 1 singles position.
Zhang has excelled in the classroom as well, chosen as one of 90 people worldwide to be named a Gates Cambridge Scholar last month. The 2010 BIG EAST Scholar Athlete of the Year was also the first female winner of the American Eagle Outfitters Michael Tranghese Postgraduate Leadership Award, boasting a 3.96 GPA in Rutgers’ computer science honors program.
Involved in numerous community service projects, including the Challah Foundation, which consists of working with cancer patients as well as tutoring at local public schools, Zhang is also the presiden of RU’s Women in Computer Science group. She and fellow students organized a fundraising campaign to aid Nigerian students with computing.
Chosen as the 2010 Woman of the Year by the New Jersey Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, Zhang is a member of the executive board of Rutgers’ Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and was the Scarlet Knights’ representative to the 2009 NCAA Student-Athlete Development Conference. She is also the recipient of the Presidential Scholarship from Rutgers.
Zhang will be honored by the ITA and USTA during the final weekend in August, the Arthur Ashe weekend. The student-athletes will be treated to many events, highlighted by activities during Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center located in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.
