Rock Hill, S.C. – Winthrop women's tennis faced some early-season struggles but really found its stride as the season came to a close.
Winthrop returned senior
Alisa Soloveva, juniors
Rafaela Santos and
Tayla Van Eck and welcomed four freshman to the team this season.
After opening the season 0-5 against non-conference opponents, the Eagles made a statement with a 7-0 sweep over the Hampton Pirates. Winthrop went on to sweep Miami (OH) and ended the season on a three-game winning streak with wins over Big South foes, Campbell, Gardner-Webb and Presbyterian, to finish 2020 with a 5-7 overall record, 4-1 in conference play.
Each newcomer,
Jaime Edwards,
Samantha Nanere,
Angela Georgieva and
Alexandra Ferreira da Silva, saw collegiate success, winning at least one singles match.
Alisa Soloveva dominated at No. 1 singles with a 10-2 overall record, ending the season on an eight-match win streak.
Samantha Nanere posted a 4-1 mark in Big South Conference play at No. 5 singles. Freshman
Alexandra Ferreira da Silva and her partner, Tayla van Eck, found success at mostly No. 1 doubles, finishing the season with an 8-4 record.
Rafaela Santos played all of her doubles matches with Soloveva at No. 2, winning 7-of-10 contests. Soloveva won 8-of-12 doubles matches.
Women's tennis had three different players garner Big South Conference weekly honors.
Alexandra Ferreira da Silva was named Freshman of the Week for the week of Feb. 5.
Alisa Soloveva and
Angela Georgieva swept the weekly awards for March 6 being named Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week respectively. Soloveva earned a second straight honor for the week of March 13.
Soloveva, the lone senior on the squad, has had an impressive career so far. Soloveva finished the season ranked No. 76 in the Oracle/ITA Division I Women's Singles Rankings. She now has a 64-12 overall career singles record, going 5-3 all-time against ranked opponents. In 2017, she was named the Big South Freshman of the Year and named to the All-Conference First Team for singles and doubles. She earned Freshman of the Week honors three times that season. In 2018, she also earned First Team All-Conference honors for singles and doubles play and a Player of the Week honor for the week of Feb. 28. As a junior, Soloveva earned First Team All-Conference honors in singles play for the third consecutive year and Second Team in doubles. She earned Player of the Week honors twice and was named an ITA Scholar Athlete for her performance in the classroom.
Vivian Segnini's first season as head coach was anything but ordinary but big things are ahead as she expects to return most of the 2020 team.
