INDIANAPOLIS – The Great Lakes Valley Conference announced Thursday evening that University of Indianapolis senior Hanna Volikova has repeated as GLVC Player of the Year in the sport of women’s tennis. Teammate Nikol Alexeeva was named GLVC Freshman of the Year, and the Coach of the Year will be awarded to the coach of the tournament’s winning team. The pair of Greyhounds was selected by the league coaches and recognized for their efforts at an awards reception on the eve of the 2019 GLVC Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championship Tournament, which begins on Friday in Indianapolis, Indiana. A total of 16 student-athletes from both the East and West Divisions were recognized as All-Conference honorees. In addition, 13 student-athletes were named GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award nominees.
Volikova becomes the fifth player in the sport to win four major postseason awards, as she first was named 2016 GLVC Freshman of the Year and followed as Player of the Year in each of the last three seasons. She is the fifth Greyhound to earn the league’s top honor, but her recognition marks the 11th time the merit has gone to a UIndy player. Volikova went a near-perfect 16-1 in dual matches at both singles and doubles with a perfect 5-0 mark in GLVC play this spring. The fourth-ranked singles player in Division II and top-ranked in the Midwest Region won the ITA Midwest Regional Championships at singles in September and finished as runner-up in doubles. This spring, Volikova also won dual matches against a pair of nationally-ranked foes. In addition to her top-five singles ranking, the product of Yalta, Crimea, Ukraine, ranks 33rd with partner Maja Pindelska, playing at No. 2. She earned her sixth career GLVC Player of the Week award on Feb. 12 and was the only unanimous selection on the All-GLVC team.
Alexeeva joins five other Greyhounds as the top league freshman, following in the footsteps of last year’s winner Alina Kislitskaya, Volikova, Pamela Rodriguez (1996), Janik Belisle (1997), and Gayal Jones (2000). Alexeeva was unblemished in dual matches this spring at 17-0, playing 11 at the No. 2 spot and six as the No. 1. In No. 1 doubles with Anna Novikova, the duo went 13-2. In GLVC matches, the newcomer was a perfect 5-0 at both singles and doubles. The duo ranks fifth in the nation and first in the Midwest, while Alexeeva is ninth in singles nationally and second regionally. In the September ITA Midwest Regional Championships, the Moscow, Russia, native finished runner-up in singles and won the doubles portion of the event with Novikova. She also won twice against nationally-ranked opponents this spring, was named GLVC Player of the Week on April 2, and is one of just three freshmen on the All-GLVC team.
UIndy and Drury headline the 16-member All-GLVC squad with four nods apiece, while Lewis University and University of Missouri-St. Louis both earned two honorees. With one laurel each was Bellarmine University, University of Illinois Springfield, Maryville University, and Rockhurst University. The selections include eight players each from the East and West Divisions. Joining Volikova and Alexeeva from UIndy is freshman Novikova and junior Pindelska. The Drury award winners include seniors JiaQing Mo and Josephine Jedrychowski, junior Yu-Ning Lee, as well as sophomore Viktoriya Zheleva. Lewis’ duo include senior Oana Carmen Trus and junior Tereza Pilzova, while the pair from UMSL consists of senior Salome Blueler and junior Marina Prediger. Bellarmine junior Ashley Jonathan, UIS freshman Neha Mokhasi, Maryville freshman Nicole Pafundi, and Rockhurst sophomore Sam Czarnecki round out the team.
The league also recognized Southern Indiana as its GLVC Women’s Tennis James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award team recipient, as well as 13 student-athletes who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These individuals must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. The honorees are now eligible to become one of their school’s two Spalding Sportsmanship Award winners, which will be announced in May.
A complete list of All-GLVC performers and major postseason award winners can be found below.
2019 GLVC Player of the Year: Hanna Volikova, Sr., Indianapolis
2019 GLVC Freshman of the Year: Nikol Alexeeva, Indianapolis
2019 GLVC Coach of the Year: Winner of Tournament
2019 ALL-GLVC WOMEN’S TENNIS POSTSEASON AWARDS
Ashley Jonathan, Jr., BU
Josephine Jedrychowski, Sr., DU
Yu-Ning Lee, Jr., DU
JiaQing Mo, Sr., DU
Viktoriya Zheleva, So., DU
Neha Mokhasi, Fr., UIS
Nikol Alexeeva, Fr., UINDY
Anna Novikova, Fr., UINDY
Maja Pindelska, Jr., UINDY
Hanna Volikova, Sr., UINDY #
Oana Carmen Trus, Sr., LEWIS
Tereza Pilzova, Jr., LEWIS
Nicole Pafundi, Fr., MU
Salome Bleuler, Sr., UMSL
Marina Prediger, Jr., UMSL
Sam Czarnecki, So., RU
#Unanimous selection
2019 GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP NOMINEES
Aubrey Smith, BU
Yu-Ning Lee, DU
Kaitlyn Thornhill, UIS
Nikol Alexeeva, UINDY
Sarah Markun, LEWIS
Sandra Hinterberger, MU
Alex Tinnin, MCK
Leticia Lunge, UMSL
Makaela Hampton, QU
Sara Flaxbeard, RU
Lauren Hambrock, USI
Finessa Rassel, TSU
Caroline Lane, WJC
2019 GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP TEAM AWARD
Southern Indiana