Sandy Wood Named A-10 Women's Tennis Co-Coach of the Year

April 30, 2009

Complete 2009 Atlantic 10 All-Conference Team

KINGSTON, R.I. - Rhode Island women's tennis head coach Sandy Wood was named Atlantic 10 Co-Coach of the Year for the 2009 season. Senior Grace Hedstrom (Minnetonka, Minn.) landed a spot on the league's All-Academic squad for the third consecutive season while freshman Kirsten Leikem (Tucson, Ariz.) earned All-Conference Second Team honors.

Wood's 2008-09 squad - which won its third consecutive New England Championship title this past fall - finished with an overall record of 15-4 (3-2 against A-10 teams). Highlighting the season was a 4-3 victory over Atlantic 10 foe Massachusetts, which Rhody had not defeated in roughly 20 years.

In Wood's first season at Rhode Island (2004-05) the Rams finished with an overall record 4-16. Over the next four years, URI combined to go 64-23 with a record 16 wins in 2007-08.

Wood shares the honor with Richmond head coach Mark Wesselink, who led the Spiders to A-10 titles in five of the last six seasons, including the 2008-09 campaign.

Hedstrom was one of just six Atlantic 10 women's tennis players - and the lone senior - named to the 2009 All-Academic team. A three-year team captain, Hedstrom finished the season with a 9-4 mark in singles play and a 9-8 record in doubles. Over her four-year career, she amassed 115 victories - 57 in singles and 58 in doubles while also maintaining a 3.97 GPA as a psychology major.

Leikem received her first Atlantic 10 award after combining for a 33-20 record with 15 singles wins and a team-high 18 doubles victories with twin sister Tristany Leikem. The duo - which captured the Flight 1 doubles title at the New England Championship - was the lone Rhody tandem to post double-digit wins this year

For the second straight year, URI women's tennis team tied Duquesne for seventh place at the Atlantic 10 Championship.