SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Senior Safaa Umar was named Most Valuable Player while senior Lauren Lai (Award of Excellence) and junior Hayley Labia (Rising Star Award) also received team honors, as the St. Francis High tennis team held its season banquet at the school's dining hall Thursday night.
Umar's award caps a career that saw her compile a win-loss record of 57-6, said head coach Kristi Spector. She was also the Troubadours' lone All-Delta League singles honoree, thanks to her reaching the Delta League singles title match, while the tandem of Tatum Walbeck and Allie Dinh earned doubles acclaim for their semifinal berth in the league tournament. Lai also earned the team's Delta League Sportsmanship Award. A full summary of All-Delta League honors for the five SFHS fall sports will be availalble on GoTroubies.com later this week.
Additionally, Umar was the Troubies' individual at-large representative in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section singles bracket in early November. She advanced in the draw before falling to the No. 2 seed.
Coach Spector, a former NFHS California State Coach of the Year honoree, also acknowledged the contributions of Dinh with a "dedication award," and recognized her assistant coaches Camille Benvenuti and Sangeetha Vijayakumar.
TEAM AWARDS
Most Valuable Player: Safaa Umar
Award Of Excellence: Lauren Lai
Rising Star Award: Hayley Labia
Dedication Award: Allie Dinh
