Guruge Named Ivy League Rookie of the Year

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Harvard freshman Nirasha Guruge was honored as the Ivy League Rookie of the Year, becoming the third Crimson women's player in four years to be honored by the conference as the league's top rookie.  Guruge was also selected to the All-Ivy team, joining teammate Alisha Mashruwala on the squad.

Guruge, who hails from Colombo, Sri Lanka, boasted a 10-5 overall record in her first season with the Crimson, including a 6-1 mark at the No. 2 position and a 5-1 record against Ivy opponents in the regular season..  She began her career with five victories against players from Brown, Williams, Dartmouth, Cornell and Stanford, helping the Crimson achieve a No. 2 ranking in the country. 

At the CSA National Team Championships, Guruge defeated Stanford's Lilly Lorentzen in the quarterfinal round, 3-0 (9-1, 9-0, 9-6), as Harvard advanced to the semifinals.  Guruge continued her strong play at the CSA Individual Championships two weeks later, as she made her way to the quarterfinals of the Ramsay Cup.  As the No. 7 seed in the tournament, Guruge topped Princeton's Jackie Moss, 9-3, 9-5, 5-9, 9-1, in the first round before downing Nayelly Hernandez-Perez in round two, 10-8, 6-9, 10-8, 9-6, to advance to the quarterfinal.

Mashruwala is making her second appearance on the All-Ivy League team after going 14-3, including 5-1 at the No. 3 slot and 4-0 at the No. 4 position.  The Crimson sophomore placed 10th in the Ramsay Cup at the CSA Individual Championships as she claimed the consolation bracket at the tournament.  Mashruwala, a native of Mumbai, India, posted a 5-1 Ivy record this year and was a perfect 3-0 at the CSA National Team Championships.  Her run at the team tournament culmininated in a victory over Princeton's Kaitlin Sennatt, 7-9, 9-3, 9-1, 9-0, in the national final.