From Brandeis University Athletics
Brandeis University junior Carley Cooke, of San Diego, Calif., was officially named an Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division III All-American earlier today, her fourth time earning the honor in just three seasons on the women's tennis team.
Cooke earned the honor after becoming the first player in program history to win a match at the NCAA Tournament. Taking on junior Casey Johnson of Texas-Dallas, Cooke dropped just three games in the entire match, winning 6-1, 6-2. Cooke advanced to face the tournament's second seed, Sonja Meighan of Washington and Lee in the second round, where Meighan prevailed, 6-1, 6-0.
Cooke went 3-3 on the season against All-Americans. In addition to her win against Johnson, she defeated Bowdoin's Tiffany Cheng and Chicago's Megan Teng earlier in the year. Her three losses all came to competitors that reached the quarterfinal round of NCAAs and finished in the top 12 nationally.
It was the third-straight season that Cooke claimed All-American honors in singles. She also earned honors in doubles last year. Cooke finished her season with a 15-6 record, the fourth-best winning percentage for the Judges since 2005-06. Three of those losses came to All-Americans, while a fourth came to a Division I athlete. She was also named second-team All-UAA at No. 1 singles. The first-team selection, Emory's Gabrielle Clark, won the national title.
In the final national rankings, which were released yesterday, Cooke finished the season No. 25 in women's singles. She went 5-4 overall against ranked competitors. The Judges were No. 23 in the final poll. In the northeast region, Cooke ranked eighth overall, while the women's tennis team finished in ninth.
The women's tennis finished 11-11 on the year and sixth at the UAA Tournament. Both of coach Ben Lamanna's squads finished the year nationally ranked – the men's team are 31st. Rookie Brian Granoff of Miami, Fla., was the first men's tennis player to qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the Judges in 20 years.
Cooke is a 2011 graduate of Point Loma High School. She is the daughter of Michael and Elysia Cooke, San Diego, Calif.