ITA ARTHUR ASHE LEADERSHIP AWARD ASHLEY PENSHORN | ST. MARY'S UNIVERSITY (TX)

ITA Arthur Ashe Leadership & Sportsmanship Award

Ashley Penshorn from St. Mary's University (TX) has been named the 2023 ITA Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award winner.

Throughout her career, Penshorn has been an incredible athlete and even more incredible student-athlete at St. Mary's! This May she graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and Data Analytics, finishing with a 3.91 GPA.

Penshorn’s academic honors include the Outstanding Student in Accounting and Data Analytics Award (2022), Lone Star Conference Female Scholar Athlete of the Year (2022), St. Mary’s University Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year (2022), Lone Star Conference All-Academic Team (2021, 2022), ITA Scholar Athlete (2018-2022), and the Commissioner’s Honor Roll (2018-2022). She is also an Honors Scholar in The National Society of Leadership and Success where she helps members identify their goals and create action steps to fulfill them by creating small groups of like-minded, success oriented, students.

She is a volunteer on the NCAA Student Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC) where she participates in advisory meetings to provide insight on student-athlete experiences and offer input on rules, regulations, and policies. She has been a team leader on and off the court for the Varsity Women’s Tennis team volunteering with the Havard Boys and Girls club, the Rattler Alumni Association, Morgan's Wonderland, Habitat for Humanity, as well as free community tennis clinics at Rohrbach Stadium Tennis Complex.

Penshorn’s athletic resume is just as impressive including; ITA South Central Region Senior of the Year (2022), NCAA Round of 16 Sixteen Appearance (2022), Lone Star Conference Sportsmanship Team (2022), NCAA Quarterfinalist Appearance (2021), St. Mary’s University Female Athlete of the Year (2020, 2021), Heartland Conference Freshman of the Year (2019), Heartland Conference Women’s Team Tennis Champion (2019), South Central Region Singles Champion (2019, 2022), South Central Region Doubles Champion (2019, 2022), ITA All-American Singles and Doubles (2019-2020), and the Heartland Conference Freshman of the Year (2019).

Penshorn earned LSC First Team Singles and Doubles honors in 2023 and was a member of the All-LSC Tournament Team. She won the ITA South Central Regional Singles and Doubles titles this year. It was the second time in her career to win both championships.

Penshorn is a team co-captain with a career singles record of 107-26 and doubles record of 91-43. She was just recently named the St. Mary's University Female Athlete of the Year for 2023. She is also the St. Mary's career victory leader.