Hamner Selected as a Finalist for the 2022 Honda Sport Award for Tennis

Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina Women’s Tennis freshman Sarah Hamner was selected as one of four finalists for the Class of 2022 Honda Sport Award for Tennis Chris Voelz, the Collegiate Women’s Sports Awards executive director, announced. No. 4 Hamner is a finalist alongside Texas’ No. 1 Peyton Stearns, Virginia’s No. 2 Emma Navarro, and Southern California’s No. 3 Eryn Cayetano.
 
The Honda Sport Award has been presented annually by the CWSA for the past 46 years to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA- sanctioned sports and signifies “the best of the best in collegiate athletics”.  The winner of the sport award becomes a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the prestigious 2022 Honda Cup which will be presented during the live telecast of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards Presented by Honda on CBS Sports Network on June 27, at 9 ET/6 PT.
 
The tennis finalists were determined by final rankings and NCAA competition. The Honda Sport award winner for tennis will be announced later this week after voting by administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools. Each NCAA member institution has a vote.  
 
Hamner had a successful first season with the Gamecocks, starting with winning the ITA All-American National Championship in singles in the fall. She continued to impress during the regular season and became the first player in program history to be ranked No. 1 in singles. She remained in the top six all season and ended the year as the No. 4 player in the nation after advancing to the Round of 32 in the NCAA Singles Championship.
 
With 35 singles wins, Hamner tied the second-best single season record and became the first Gamecock to reach 30 wins in a season since 2009. She topped 22 ranked opponents in her freshman campaign and earned 16 wins in dual matches in the No. 1 spot for South Carolina.