Biktyakova Named to ABAC Athletics Hall of Fame

For IMMEDIATE Release March 6, 2017

Biktyakova Named to ABAC Athletics Hall of Fame

TIFTON—A national champion in both singles and doubles in 2001, Luiza Biktyakova will be honored for her outstanding play on the tennis court on April 7 as a member of the Class of 2017 of the Athletics Hall of Fame at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.

ABAC Athletics Director Alan Kramer said the 2017 class also includes the 1964 state championship men’s basketball team, softball standout Lacy Whatley Kennon, soccer star Katrina Duncan-Marshalleck, basketball player Worth Hartry, former professional golfer Joey Dixon, Tift County Recreation Department Director Craig Sowell and the posthumous induction of former ABAC volleyball and tennis coach Alton Hudgins.

Tickets to the 6 p.m. ceremony on April 7 in Gressette Gymnasium are $35 per person. The event also includes the top award winners from the ABAC Alumni Association as a part of the 2017 Homecoming Week activities.

Tickets to the dinner and ceremony can be purchased from the ABAC College Advancement Office at (229) 391-4900. The deadline to purchase tickets is March 27. There will be no tickets sold at the event. For more information on the 2017 Homecoming Week, interested persons can visit the web site at www.abac.edu/homecoming.

A freshman physical education major from Uzbekistan, Biktyakova won the national title for the ABAC women’s team at #2 singles in the 2001 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) women’s national tennis tournament. She also teamed with Natalie Drabova to claim the national championship at #1 doubles and lead Coach Margaret Treadway’s team to a fifth place finish in the national tournament. The Golden Fillies also won the 2001 state championship.

Biktyakova finished the 2001 season 24-0 in singles’ competition and 24-1 in doubles’ action. She was named to the NJCAA All-America team.

“Luiza was an excellent player,” Treadway said recently. “She was very technically sound on the court. She had amazing quickness, and she could change direction in no time flat.”

In October of 2001, Biktyakova became the first ABAC female tennis player to win the prestigious Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Junior College Women’s Singles championship at the National Small College Tournament in Dallas, Tex.

During her sophomore season at ABAC, Biktyakova led the women’s tennis team, then coached by Hudgins, to its eighth straight state championship. She was named the Most Valuable Player of the state tournament. The Golden Fillies wound up sixth in the 2002 national tournament.

Biktyakova advanced to further fame on the tennis court when she spent her final two years of eligibility as a member of the Georgia College and State University women’s tennis team. She earned ITA All-America status and All-Peach Belt Conference honors in each of her two seasons with the Bobcats.

A member of the Peach Belt Conference champions in 2003, Biktyakova was the ITA/Rolex Region Doubles Champion twice with two different partners. She paired with Mia Paavilainen to finish second in the 2002 NCAA Division II national tournament.

In 2003, Biktyakova was selected as the recipient of the ITA National Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship award. Named after the tennis legend, the award recognizes outstanding individuals in all divisions at the regional and national level for their skills in leadership and sportsmanship.

As a junior at Georgia College, Biktyakova was 20-5 in singles action and 17-ll in doubles. As a senior, she rolled up an 18-10 record in singles and compiled a 26-9 mark in doubles. Biktyakova was named to the Georgia College Athletics Hall of Fame in 2013.

###