2016 All-GSC Women's Tennis Team announced
Birmingham, Ala. — The Gulf South Conference announced its 17-member All-GSC Women's Tennis Team and individual yearly award winners on Thursday.
This year's team saw a total of 17 student-athletes honored.
West Florida paced all teams with a total of four honorees named, followed by both
Valdosta State and
Alabama Huntsville, with three each.
Shorter had two garner laurels, while
Lee,
West Alabama,
West Georgia,
North Alabama and
Christian Brothers all placed one each.
Individually, this year's team returned six All-Conference honorees from past seasons. Both West Florida and Shorter returned two each. UWF saw
Nina Bubelova (2013 First Team, 2014 Second Team and 2015 First Team) and
Katarina Dikosavljevic (2014-15 First Team), this year's GSC Player of the Year, while
Agnes Brun and
Ornella Frere, both First Teamers in 2015, returned for SU. Valdosta State's
Bea Morales Hernandez, the 2015 GSC Freshman of the Year, and Alabama Huntsville's
Cristina Cabanas (2015 Second Team) rounded out the list.
GSC Player of the Year
West Florida Senior
Katarina Dikosavljevic was named the
2016 GSC Women's Tennis Player of the Year. The Queensland, Australia, native went 11-5 in singles play and, along with partners Hannah Toro, Valeria Mantilla, Lisa May and Dianna Vlad, went 16-7 in doubles action. She was 3-0 in GSC play, 4-4 against ranked regional foes and breezed through the 2016 GSC Women's Tennis Tournament, a perfect 3-0 with partner Vlad, in doubles competition.
GSC Freshman of the Year
West Florida Newcomer
Heather Mixon earned
2016 GSC Women's Tennis Freshman of the Year honors. A native of New Iberia, La., Mixon was 21-2 in singles and a winner of her last four-straight matches. Combined with playing partners Sarai Flores and Erica Eriksson, she was also a perfect 3-0 in doubles play. Mixon collected her first-ever GSC Women's Tennis Singles Tournament victory against Lee's Morgan Friedlander (6-0, 6-0) in the quarterfinals and picked up her second win in the tournament final versus Valdosta State's Joanna Lario (6-2, 6-2).
GSC Coach of the Year
West Florida Head Coach
Derrick Racine was named the
2016 GSC Women's Tennis Coach of the Year after guided his team to yet another GSC Women's Tennis Tournament Championship this season, the program's sixth-straight conference tournament title and 16th overall. In fact, the ITA-No. 6 Argonauts have won eight of the last 10 GSC Tournament Championships and have are also currently riding a 68-match winning streak against conference foes. UWF closed the regular season at 22-5, including a perfect 10-0 in conference play. West Florida awaits seeding as it will make its 20th all-time appearance in the NCAA Division II Women's Tennis Tournament. The field will be announced on Tuesday, May 3.
2016 All-GSC Women's Tennis Team
FIRST TEAM
Agnes Brun, Shorter
Katarina Dikosavljevic, West Florida
Bea Morales-Hernandez, Valdosta State
Amina Mukhametshina, West Alabama
Nina Bubelova, West Florida
Paula Lopez, West Florida
Marleen Gort, UAH
Francesca Tondi, Lee
SECOND TEAM
Claudia Arroyo, North Alabama
Marta Briega, UAH
Laura Ubeda, Valdosta State
Ornella Frere, Shorter
Cristina Cabanas, UAH
Sarai Flores, West Florida
Jordan England, West Georgia
Sabrina Schmidt, Valdosta State
Lauren Woog, Christian Brothers