NORFOLK, Va. -- The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) announced its 2022 All-Americans on Monday and a pair of Monarchs earned three awards in women's tennis.
Senior Yuliia Starodubtseva became the first Old Dominion women's tennis player to earn All-American honors in both singles and doubles in the same season. She was joined by her doubles partner sophomore Tatsiana Sasnousksya as award recipients.
The award is given to student-athletes that earn a top 16 seed in the NCAA singles championship, advance to the round of 16 at the NCAA Championship, or finish in the top 20 of the final ITA singles rankings. The All-American status is awarded to doubles teams that earn a top-eight seed into the NCAA championship, reach the NCAA championship quarterfinals, or finish in the top 10 of the final ITA doubles rankings.
Starodubtseva had a stellar senior season finishing with a 30-6 mark. She was a three-time Conference USA Athlete of the Week and two-time Athlete of the Month. Recorded a win over the top-ranked singles player from Princeton earlier in the spring. She won 17 matches in a row heading into the NCAA Tournament and helped lead the team to a second straight NCAA Tournament appearance and second straight opening round win defeating Furman.
As ODU advanced to the ITA Indoor Nationals this year, she recorded three-set wins over Ga. Tech and Ole Miss to help propel ODU to winning the Atlanta Regional of ITA Kickoff Weekend. Starodubtseva finished the year ranked 18th in singles after winning Conference Player of the Year for second year in a row, First Team All-Conference Singles, First Team All-Conference Doubles and Outstanding Singles Player of the Championships.
In doubles, Starodubtseva and Sasnouskaya finished with a 33-7 overall mark and 14-3 this spring. They took second place at ITA All-American and ITA Fall National Championship and won ITA Atlantic Super Regional. They recorded a win over top-ranked duo from Oklahoma in fall. In the spring,helped lead ODU to its second straight Conference USA crown.
They recorded nationally-ranked wins over wins over N.C. State, Auburn, Clemson, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Michigan State, Texas A&M, Florida, Penn, Charlotte (2), Rice and North Florida. They finished the year ranked seventh after advancing to the round of 16 at the NCAA Championships and were named Outstanding Doubles Team of the Conference USA Championships.
ODU HEAD COACH DOMINIC MANILLA ON AWARDS
It's a proud moment in ODU Womens Tennis history. Tanya and Yuliia as a doubles team achieved All-American status all season long. Yuliia earning the accolade in both singles and doubles has set a new standard for future players of our program. It is a great way to cap off her amazing career."
"I'm looking forward to the future of Old Dominion Womens Tennis. "
Sasnouskaya and Starodubtseva Named ITA All-Americans
