University of Minnesota tennis senior Zeyneb Sarioglan has been named one of 14 Big Ten Conference Sportsmanship Award honorees for the first time in her career. The Sportsmanship Award is given to student-athletes with distinguished sportsmanship, ethical behavior, academic standing, and good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.
Sarioglan was named team captain for the 2023-24 season, her fourth season in the program. As the sole senior student-athlete on this year’s squad, her leadership and experience has played a vital role in the team’s successes on and off the court, as well as in helping the program develop under first-year head coach Lois Arterberry. In Minnesota’s final home match of the season, Sarioglan was honored by both the team and fans in attendance as part of Senior Day celebrations.
Since her first official match appearance back in the 2021 spring season, Sarioglan has won 22 singles matches and 23 doubles matches throughout her career. Prior to her career as a Gopher, the Ankara, Turkey native attended Okyanus College in Istanbul. From the time she was 12, Sarioglan has represented Turkey multiple times on the international stage.
On Thursday, Sarioglan and the Gophers will begin their postseason run in Ann Arbor, facing Purdue in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament. The match will be broadcast live on B1G+ at 9:00 a.m. CT. Live stats will also be available. The full tournament schedule and streaming information can be found on the Big Ten women’s tennis website.