Posted: Thursday, May 7, 2009 2:44 pm

Skyhawk standout — UT Martin tennis player Sara Leavy (left) was the recipient of the university's 2009 Bettye Giles Female Athlete of the Year. Giles (right), a former women's athletic director at UT Martin, was on hand for the presentation.

MARTIN, Tenn. – Sara Leavy, a senior tennis player from Bedfordshire, England, was named the 2009 Bettye Giles Female Athlete of the Year at the Fourth Annual Senior Athlete Night at the University of Tennessee at Martin on Tuesday night.
Leavy was named to the All-Ohio Valley Conference first team after a banner year where she went undefeated in OVC singles play, going a perfect 10-0 at No. 2. She won her first six OVC doubles decisions and ended the season going 8-2 at No. 2 doubles in conference play.
Overall, she went 15-4 in singles and 14-5 in doubles. Leavy ended the season on a seven-match win streak in singles competition and was named the OVC Female Tennis Athlete of the Week for the week of March 18.
She sported a 44-23 career record in singles play, with a 27-15 OVC slate. She ended her career with a 45-24 career doubles record, including a 30-14 mark in OVC play. She is a two-time member of the OVC Commissioner’s Honor Roll (2007 and 2008) and was named All-OVC second team as well as OVC Freshman of the Year in 2006.
The Senior Athlete Night recognized 73 seniors this year during Tuesday night’s program in the Boling University Center’s Duncan Ballroom.