GREENWOOD, S.C. - Five Armstrong Atlantic State University student-athletes earned All-Peach Belt Conference women's tennis singles honors while six earned doubles honors at the league's annual awards banquet on Thursday evening, prior to the 2012 Peach Belt Conference Championships in Greenwood, S.C. Clara Perez was named the league's Freshman of the Year and head coach Simon Earnshaw was named the PBC Coach of the Year.

Sophomores Aleksandra Filipovski and Barbora Krtickova earned first-team All-PBC singles and doubles honors for a second straight season, while senior Kathleen Henry, sophomore Olga Kalodzitsa and sophomore Marlen Hacke each earned second-team All-PBC singles and doubles honors.

Clara Perez finished her first season of collegiate tennis undefeated with a 17-0 record in singles and was also undefeated in doubles in league play. The freshman from Madrid, Spain, won all 17 of her singles matches in straight sets and never gave up more than six games in any match. She was 8-0 at #5 singles and 9-0 at #6 singles this season. Perez is currently ranked #30 in the nation in singles play and her doubles team with Kathleen Henry is #15 nationally. Perez becomes the fourth Pirate to be named the PBC Freshman of the Year in the last five years and the ninth overall.

Armstrong Atlantic State won their ninth straight PBC regular-season championship and are in position to win their ninth straight PBC Tournament title, all under the guidance of head coach Simon Earnshaw. In his 13th season at the school, coach Earnshaw has kept the Pirates at the top of the DII women’s tennis world, winning four national championships. In 2012 the Pirates once again ran the table, going undefeated in conference play for the ninth straight season and sitting 20-0 overall and ranked #3 in the nation. Earnshaw takes the women’s Coach of the Year award for the sixth time in a row and has won the award 10 times in his career. He has also won the men’s Coach of the Year award five times, including this season.

Click here to view the complete 2012 All-Peach Belt Conference women's tennis awards.

The top-seeded Pirates open up action in the 2012 Peach Belt Conference championships on Friday, facing No. 8-seeded Augusta State at 5:00 p.m. Armstrong will be searching for its ninth straight PBC Tournament championship.