NORFOLK, Va. – Dominic Manilla, Yulia Starodubtseva, Tatsiana Sasnouskaya, Holly Hutchinson, Alesya Yakubovich and Alexandra Viktorovich of the Old Dominion women's tennis team garnered All-Conference USA honors on Monday afternoon, as voted on by the head coaches and announced by league officials.
Manilla earned the league's Coach of the Year honors for the third consecutive season, Starodubtseva was named the C-USA Player of the Year, Sasnouskaya was tagged as the Freshman of the Year and Hutchinson acquired Outstanding Singles Player of the Championship. This is the first time since 2010-11, that the program has had back to back conference players of the year.
Starodubtseva, Sasnouskaya and Hutchinson were also named to the All-Conference USA Singles First Team. Sasnouskaya/Hutchinson and Starodubtseva/Yakubovich collected All C-USA Doubles First Team honors. Viktorovich joined teammate Sasnouskaya on the league's All-Freshman Team.
Manilla led Old Dominion to its second ever conference championship and first in 20 years. 2021 marked the Monarchs first time winning the Conference USA title. ODU went 12-4 this season and was 3-0 against C-USA opponents. Manilla and the Monarchs enter the NCAA Tournament on a 10-match win streak, while outscoring their opponents 51-11 during the win streak.
Coach Manilla went a perfect 7-0 against schools within the state of Virginia and went 3-2 against ACC opponents, highlighted by a 4-1 victory over No. 26 Wake Forest in Winston-Salem. Old Dominion was the only program within the league to have three nationally ranked players in singles and two ranked double tandems for the majority of the season.
Starodubtseva is the highest ranked singles player in the conference (No. 54) after compiling an 11-1 record and is currently riding a 10-match win streak. The Kakhovka, Ukraine native defeated No. 21 Alana Smith (NC State) earlier this season and went 2-0 in singles at C-USA Championships. For the season, she went 3-0 at home, 6-1 on the road, 9-1 against non-conference opponents, 6-0 against regional foes and 5-1 against non-regional competitors, while being named C-USA Athlete of the Week on Feb. 17. She is also part of highest ranked doubles tandem in the league (No. 79).
Sasnouskaya is the second highest ranked singles player in the conference (No. 74) and is part of third highest ranked doubles tandem in the league (No. 81). She compiled a 13-2 singles record this season, while going 3-0 at C-USA Championships. The Minsk, Belarus native defeated No. 42 Emmanuelle Salas of Florida State in straight sets (6-3, 7-6). Sasnouskaya went 7-0 against regional opponents, 6-2 against non-regional foes, 10-2 within non-conference play, 3-0 at home and 5-2 on the road, while being named C-USA Athlete of the Week on March 17.
Hutchinson, last year's Conference USA Player of the Year, is nationally ranked for singles (No. 106), as well as doubles (No. 81). Earlier this season, she defeated No. 49 Anna Campana of Wake Forest and No. 121 Nika Kozar of Virginia Tech. The Middlesex, England native went 2-0 in singles at C-USA Championships and was named Conference USA Athlete of the Week on March 31, which was her 10th time garnering the accolade during her collegiate career. In 2016-17, Hutchinson was named C-USA Freshman of the Year.
Starodubtseva/Yakubovich spent a portion of the season nationally ranked No. 8 by the ITA, as the tandem ended last year ranked No. 7, which was the highest in program history. This season, Starodubtseva/Yakubovich had signature wins over No. 7 Hule/Allen (Florida State), No. 24 Machalova/Allen (Ole Miss) and No. 58 Kozar/Danailova (Virginia Tech). The duo went 3-0 against regional opponents, 5-3 in their non-conference matches and 4-2 on the road, while playing No. 1 doubles for ODU all season. The pair is currently nationally ranked No. 79, which is the highest in Conference USA.
Hutchinson/Sasnouskaya enter the NCAA Tournament with a 12-2 record in doubles, riding an 11 match win streak and are currently nationally ranked No. 81 by the ITA. This tandem went 3-0 at the 2021 Conference USA Championships. Hutchinson/Sasnouskaya went 7-0 against regional opponents, 9-2 in non-conference matches, 3-0 at home, 5-1 on the road and 4-1 in neutral site matches. This duo defeated VCU's No. 83 nationally ranked Delgado/Witmus twice (6-0 and 6-1) this season.
Viktorovich's singles match clinched the finals for Old Dominion in the Conference USA Championships. She went 2-0 in singles at the C-USA Championships and is currently riding a six match win streak into the NCAA tournament. The Jonkoping, Sweden native went 3-0 in neutral site singles matches this season and was 3-1 against regional opponents. Viktorovich secured wins against Wake Forest, Notre Dame and VCU.
2021 Conference USA Women's Tennis Superlative Awards
Player of the Year – Yulia Starodubtseva, Old Dominion
Freshman of the Year – Tatsiana Sasnouskaya, Old Dominion
Newcomer of the Year – Lucie Devier, North Texas
Coach of the Year – Dominic Manilla, Old Dominion
All-Conference Singles:
First Team:
Ruxi Schech, Charlotte
Marina Alcaide, FIU
*Kamila Umarova, FIU
*Holly Hutchinson, Old Dominion
Tatsiana Sasnouskaya, Old Dominion
*Yulia Starodubtseva, Old Dominion
Linda Huang, Rice
Federica Trevisan, Rice
Second Team:
*Rocio Safont, Charlotte
Radka Buzkova, Florida Atlantic
Katerina Filip, Florida Atlantic
Andjela Skrobonja, FIU
Lidia Burrows, Middle Tennessee
*Anna Bowtell, Rice
Michaela Haet, Rice
Katie de la Garza, Southern Miss
Dominika Hrabalova, UAB
All-Conference Doubles:
First Team:
Kaavya Sawhney/Ruxi Schech, Charlotte
Kamila Umarova/Andjela Skrobonja, FIU
Holly Hutchinson/Tatsiana Sasnouskaya, Old Dominion
*Yulia Starodubtseva/Alesya Yakubovich, Old Dominion
Second Team:
Jenna Dean/Margaux Maquet, Charlotte
Lucie Devier/Saki Oyama, North Texas
Love-Star Alexis/Zani Barnard, Middle Tennessee
Maria Budin/Diae El Jardi, Rice
Katie de la Garza/Suhana Das, Southern Miss
*Repeat Honoree
All-Freshman Team:
Emma Wilkins, Charlotte
Andjela Skrobonja, FIU
Andreea Velcea, FIU
Saki Oyama, North Texas
Tatsiana Sasnouskaya, Old Dominion
Alexandra Viktorovich, Old Dominion
Federica Trevisan, Rice
Sydney Clarke, UAB
Singles Player of the Championship:
Holly Hutchinson, Old Dominion
Doubles Players of the Championship:
Kamila Umarova/Andjela Skrobonja, FIU
ODU Earns C-USA Coach of the Year, Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year Honors; Five Monarchs Garner Accolades
