Princeton University Athletics
ITA Regional Awards Show Tigers
May 17, 2000 | Men's Tennis
May 17, 2000
PRINCETON, N.J. - David Benjamin, who just completed his 26th and final season as the head coach of the Princeton men's tennis and Louise Gengler, who led the Princeton women's tennis team to an undefeated Ivy League season for the first time since 1980, were named the Coaches of the Year for the ITA's Region I. Freshman phenom Kavitha Krishnamurthy (Oakville, Ont.) was named the region's Rookie of the Year.
Benjamin, who ended his career with the Tigers with a 362-161 career record, retired at the conclusion of the season and will remain as the Executive Director of the ITA. Benjamin guided Princeton to seven EITA championships before the league was disbanded and the Ivy League champion was recognized in 1998.
This season, Gengler guided the Princeton women's team to a Princeton record tying 17 wins, and Ivy League championship and an appearance in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1998. In her 20 years as head coach, the 1975 Princeton graduate has led the Tigers to seven Ivy titles. Last fall, Princeton won five matches in three days to win the 1999 ECAC championship for the first time in history. The Tigers fell to Tennessee in the first round of the NCAA tournament last Friday by the score of 5-1.
Perhaps no freshman has made an impact at Princeton Krishnamurthy has. The Canadian put up a 35-7 record this season and had a 24-match winning streak that ran throughout most of the fall and into the spring. Last January, Krishnamurthy became the first Princeton woman to win the ITA East Region championship.