Three members of the Syracuse tennis program were honored on Saturday in the northeast portion of ITA’s NCAA Division I Regional Awards. Head coach Younes Limam won the Wilson/ITA coach of the year, associate head coach Shelley George took home ITA assistant coach of the year and Gabriela Knutson was awarded ITA senior player of the year. SU’s (14-13, 5-9 Atlantic Coast) season ended with a 4-1 loss to Stanford in the second round of the NCAA tournament on May 5, and only Knutson qualified for the NCAA singles and doubles championships that begin on Monday in Orlando, Florida.

Over the past five months, the Orange constructed one of the most successful seasons in their 44-year history. They swept both matches during ITA Kick-Off Weekend — including a 4-2 victory over then-No. 9 Michigan — and advanced to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship for the first time. Two four-match winning streaks sandwiched a two-week losing streak to open the season, but during that time SU climbed to No. 10 in the Oracle/ITA rankings, its highest ever.

In his five seasons at Syracuse, Limam has led the Orange to their only three NCAA tournament appearances in program history alongside George — who completed her 12th season with the Orange this year. The pair has developed All-Americans in Knutson and her doubles partner junior Miranda Ramirez, attracted top transfers in sophomore Guzal Yusupova and established international recruiting connections in countries such as Russia.

Knutson, who moved into No. 2 for all-time career wins on Feb. 17 against Harvard, has compiled a 16-10 singles record this year to go along with a 14-11 doubles record, both lower than last season. But SU’s top singles player consistently competed with the top-ranked opponents despite nagging arm issues late in the season. Knutson defeated then-No. 5 Makenna Jones of UNC and took Miami’s then-No. 2 Estela Perez-Somarriba to two tiebreakers.

Behind her backhand, a strength since she first began playing tennis at age 2, Knutson peaked at No. 4 and No. 13 in the singles rankings the past two years. She begins her second consecutive NCAA singles tournament appearance against Washington’s No. 57 Stacey Fung on Monday at 10 a.m. Last year, Knutson advanced to the round of 16 before falling to Pepperdine’s Mayar Sherif in three sets.