FMU Women’s Tennis Team earns PBC Team Sportsmanship Award

FLORENCE, SC – The Peach Belt Conference announced late last week that the Francis Marion University women’s tennis team has been named the recipient of the PBC Team Sportsmanship Award for the 2009 women’s tennis season.

The awards program, which includes honoring one team from each of the league’s 12 championship sports, will also recognize one institution with the “Institution of the Year Sportsmanship Award” at the end of the 2008-09 year. This is the first year of the awards program.

The program presents an award following each championship season to the team in that sport that best exemplifies the spirit of sportsmanship and generally conducts themselves with a high degree of integrity, character and class. The team award is selected by other teams who compete in that sport.
Under the guidance of long-time head coach Garth Thomson, the Francis Marion women finished third during the PBC regular-season and placed second at the PBC Tournament. The seventh-ranked Patriots are 20-4 after winning last weekend’s NCAA Southeast Regional Tournament and will face top-ranked and unbeaten BYU-Hawaii (26-0) in the NCAA’s Round of Sweet Sixteen, Wednesday in Altamonte Springs, Fla.

Earlier this school year, the FMU men’s soccer and men’s cross country squads also won PBC Team Sportsmanship Awards.