CNU won the ITA's Sportsmanship Award for March.

SKILLMAN, NJ – Christopher Newport’s men’s tennis squad was honored as March’s recipient of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s National Team Sportsmanship Award this week.

The ITA National Team Sportsmanship Award is a monthly award that goes to one men's and one women's team that has exemplified outstanding sportsmanship, character and ethical conduct in the true spirit of competition and collegiate tennis. The winners are selected by the ITA Ethics and Infractions Committee from nominations received from all ITA member institutions (NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and Junior/Community Colleges). This monthly award began in 2003.

In addition to the obvious reasons, sportsmanship and fair play are considered important in college tennis due to the fact that players make their own line calls during a match.

The Nominating Coach: "Christopher Newport came to Haverford on March 22, 2008, for a dual match that had to be played indoors on a fast surface (bad weather). The match was well contested by both teams. No official was present, but there were no code violations of any kind. Both teams were cordial to each other at all times. Both teams played close balls and gave the benefit of the doubt to the opponent on close calls. Of particular note, No. 1 Eddie Glidewell and No. 4 Lorenzo Sison of Christopher Newport each 'gave' an extremely close call to their Haverford opponents on crucial points - Eddie and Lorenzo felt the balls might have been out, but they couldn't 'see' the balls out, so the call was good. This is the way tennis should be played! Congratulations to Coach Rush Cole and the entire Christopher Newport team for their sportsmanship!"

Christopher Newport Coach Rush Cole: "I feel very fortunate to have such a nice group of student-athletes. It has always been important to our program to conduct ourselves with integrity and good sportsmanship. I know that this year's team will be honored, as will all former members of the Christopher Newport Tennis Program."

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