Skillman, N.J. -  William and Mary women's tennis assistant coach Toni Neykova and fifth-year senior Lauren Sabacinski were selected as regional award winners, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced on Wednesday. Neykova became the third Tribe coach to be named the Region Assistant Coach of the Year, while Sabacinski is the first W&M student-athlete to be the regional winner for the ITA Cissie/Leary Award for Sportsmanship.

Neykova, who is in her third season with the program, helped in guiding the Tribe to the program's 21st Colonial Athletic Association Championship and its 18th bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Green and Gold enter Saturday's NCAA first round against Yale at 16-8 overall, having won seven straight. Neykova mentored a CAA-best six all-league selections this season, including all three W&M doubles teams. Neykova is the third Tribe assistant to win the regional award, joining current Wisconsin head coach Brian Fleishman (1997) and current Minnesota head coach Tyler Thomson (1999).

Sabacinski battled injuries through the latter part of her career, but came on strong during her senior campaign leading the Tribe to the CAA Championship. After sitting out the fall season while recovering from injuries, Sabacinski compiled an 8-3 singles ledger and a 17-4 doubles mark during the 2011 dual-match campaign. She earned Second-Team All-CAA honors in doubles along with freshman Jeltje Loomans as the pair combined for a 12-1 mark, including 11 straight victories entering the NCAA Championships.  Sabacinski earned her undergraduate degree from the College in 2010 and will complete the W&M Master's of Accounting Program through the Mason School of Business this year. She owns 71 career singles wins and 83 career doubles victories, which ranks 14th on the Tribe's all-time list.

The ITA/Cissie Leary Award for Sportsmanship goes to a Division I women's player who displays inspiring dedication and commitment to her team, which has enhanced her team's performance and exemplified the spirit of college tennis. It dates back to 1997 and is memory of the late and widely admired Penn women's tennis coach Cissie Leary. The 12 regional winners of the ITA/Cissie Leary Award for Sportsmanship and the Assistant Coach of the Year are now finalists for the national award. The ITA National Award winners will be announced at the NCAA Championships in Stanford, Calif.

The Tribe travels to Durham, N.C., to take part in the 2011 NCAA Championships as it faces No. 30 Yale in the first round on Saturday, May 14. The match is slated for a 9 a.m. start time at the Ambler Tennis Center. The other opening round match will pit host and No. 3 seeded Duke against Richmond at noon on Saturday. The first-round winners will square off for a spot in the round of 16 on Sunday, May 15, at 2 p.m. NCAA First and Second Round action in Durham will be streamed live over the Web at GoDuke.com and is free. Live stats for the regional will also be available at GoDuke.com.