Murray State University Athletics
Murray State Earns OVC Team Sportsmanship Awards For Men's and Women's Tennis
5/18/2009 11:15:00 PM | Women's Tennis
On Monday the Ohio Valley Conference announced that
the 2008-09 Team Sportsmanship Award for each men's and women's tennis.
Voted on by the student-athletes and coaches of the respective sports, the team awards are
bestowed upon the Conference squads deemed to have best exhibited the standards of
sportsmanship and ethical behavior as outlined by the OVC and NCAA. Included in the areas
for evaluation are the conduct of student-athletes, coaches, staff and administrators and fans.
"The Ohio Valley Conference puts a great deal of value on sportsmanship and respect for your
opponent,” said Brad Walker, Interim OVC Commissioner. “Student-athletes are the most visible
representatives of their institutions as well as the OVC and we have high expectations on them to
show sportsmanlike behavior. The OVC Sportsmanship Award winner should take pride in being
honored by their peers as the program that exemplifies the league's commitment to sportsmanship."
The 2008-09 school year marks the fourth year the team sportsmanship honors have been awarded.
The
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in the championship match to finish the season at 14-8 overall.
“We are very honored to receive the sportsmanship award,” said Connie Keasling,
head women's tennis coach. “It says a lot about the athletes we recruit to
the way they conduct themselves during competition."
The Racers men's team was the No. 4 seed in the 2009 OVC Tennis Championship and
advanced to the semifinals before being defeated.
“It is great to be recognized by our peers and it says a lot about our student-athletes,” said Mel
Purcell,
we step on the court for competition."
Implemented in August 2005, the team honors are the most recent addition to an awards
program that recognizes and celebrates sportsmanship within the Conference. In 1998, the league
established the Steve Hamilton Sportsmanship Award, presented annually to a male or female
student-athlete of junior or senior status who best exemplifies the characteristics of the late
added the OVC Sportsmanship Award, presented annually to the member institution selected by
its peers to have best exhibited the standards of sportsmanship and ethical behavior as outlined by
the OVC and NCAA.
In 1995, the Ohio Valley Conference implemented a first-of-its-kind “Sportsmanship Statement,”
a policy promoting principles of fair play, ethical conduct and respect for one's opponent. The
statement answered the challenge of the NCAA Presidents Commission to improve
sportsmanship in collegiate athletics, and has become a model for others to follow across the nation.
