Zaire Simmons and Taylor-Ashley Bean were named Most Valuable Players for their respective sports, tennis and athletics, at the Virginia State University’s sports awards.

Simmons and Bean, both of Somerset, are seniors at the university, with Simmons a biology major and Bean majoring in business marketing.

Bean was also named to the All-Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) women’s tennis team, along with team-mates, Sharmane Tonkins, also a senior, and sophomore Monet Graves.

During the season, Graves had a 13-2 overall record in singles while Simmons had a 10-4 singles record and Tonkins a 12-3 record.

The CIAA and Johnson C Smith University will host the Women’s Tennis Championships from today to Saturday at

Bean has had an outstanding career at VSU in cross country and indoor and outdoor track as a middle distance runner.

Last autumn she won her third consecutive Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Cross-Country Championship as the VSU women’s team finished fourth out of 12 teams.