Plote & Rubio Grab Major Awards From ECC

Plote named Co-Coach of the Year; Rubio named to All-ECC Team & Rookie of the Year

5/20/2021 3:19:00 PM

By: CONTACT: Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications | (716) 839-8385 | mmiranto@daemen.edu

AMHERST, N.Y. - Head Women's Tennis Coach Jesse Plote and freshman student-athlete Frida Rubio (San Diego, Calif.) of Daemen College have each received major awards from the East Coast Conference in an announcement from the league's headquarters on Long Island today. Plote has been named the ECC Co-Coach of the Year while Rubio was named the ECC Rookie of the Year in addition to her selection to the All-ECC Team. It marks the first time a coach or player from Daemen has garnered major award recognition at the conference level.

In his first season at the helm, Plote engineered a remarkable turn-around for the program. After inheriting a team that went 1-13 overall and 1-4 in ECC play during the 2019-20 season, Plote guided the Wildcats to a 5-5 overall record, a 3-2 conference record and the program's first-ever conference tournament appearance. It marked the first time in the nine-year history of the program that the Wildcats finished with an overall winning percentage of .500 or better, as well as their first winning season in conference play since joining the ECC eight years ago.

It's the fourth Coach of the Year accolade in Plote's head coaching career which includes previous stints at the University of Nebraska-Kearney (2004-07) and Bradley University (2008-13). He was a two-time Rocky Mountain Coach of the Year as well as the 2005-06 North Central Region Coach of the Year while leading the UNK men's program. Plote was named the fourth head coach in Daemen's program history last September. He shares ECC Co-Coach of the Year honors with Matt Capell of St. Thomas Aquinas.

Plote's first signed recruit was Rubio who joined the program in January following a semester studying at San Diego State University. She wasted little time in making an immediate impact on the Wildcats and the ECC as she posted a 7-2 record in singles play and a 6-3 mark in doubles action this season. Both win totals tied for the team lead, and six of her seven singles victories came in the first position of the Wildcats' lineup. She was named the team's MVP at last week's Wildcat Night of Honors.

Rubio's best win of the season came in the team's regular season finale when she outlasted St. Thomas Aquinas' Viktoriia Pavolvets 6-5, 7-6.

Rubio becomes only the second player in program history to earn All-ECC honors, joining current assistant coach Karli Hollins who did so in her junior season (2015-16). Rubio is joined on this year's All-ECC team by Karina Blas and Samanta Villegas Robles of St. Thomas Aquinas and Lovisa Engstrand, Maja Makal and Nathalie Ulander of Queens (N.Y.). Makal was named the ECC Player of the Year. Rubio and Makal were tied at one set apiece (6-3, 3-6) in their first singles match during the ECC tournament on April 30. That match went unfinished as the overall dual match outcome was already decided.

Daemen College features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.

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