Villarreal Earns Southland Women’s Tennis Player of the Year Honors
Southland Conference
FRISCO, Texas – Southeastern Louisiana senior Renee Villarreal has been selected as Southland Conference Women’s Tennis Player of the Year, the league office announced Wednesday in conjunction with the release of all-conference teams.
McNeese State’s Giovanna Fioretti was named Southland Conference Freshman of the Year and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi sophomore Hortense Boscher earned newcomer of the year honors, while Islanders coach Steve Moore was selected as the league’s coach of the year.
Villarreal had an outstanding year at the No. 1 singles position, going 10-1 in Southland play and a 17-3 overall dual match record on the spring season. The Monterrey, Mexico, native has a 72-9 career singles record at Southeastern, which is fourth on the school's career singles victories list. The senior netter becomes the second player in school history to be named Southland Player of the Year alongside Emilija Arnaudovska (2007, 2008). She is the first player in school history to earn first-team all-conference honors in singles play all four years.
Fioretti’s freshman of the year honors makes this the third time in four years a Cowgirl netter claims the award. The Monsano, Italy, native posted a 14-6 dual record in singles, including an 8-3 mark in league play. Fioretti stepped up and filled the role of top player towards the end of the year as she picked up a 5-3 record in the No. 1 singles spot. She picked up seven wins out of her last 10 matches to finish the regular season and will enter the postseason riding a two-match win streak.
A transfer from Texas Tech, sophomore Hortense Boscher immediately found a home at the top of the Islanders’ lineup. The newcomer produced an 11-3 mark overall in her first season, including a 7-2 record in conference play. Boscher was an integral part of key Southland victories over Northwestern State, McNeese State and Abilene Christian. Along with her singles success, Boscher paired with Alexandra Belle to produce a dominant doubles team which went 14-1 on the season.
A&M-Corpus Christi women's tennis head coach Steve Moore led the Islanders to a perfect 21-0 record this season, the school's first undefeated season in any sport. The campaign included 12 shutouts, the most in program history. He guided the team to an 11-0 league record to capture the Islanders’ second women’s regular-season title in three years.
The all-conference singles first team was comprised of Villarreal (10-1 SLC) at the No. 1 slot, A&M-Corpus Christi’s Jelena Dzinic (9-0 SLC) in the No. 2 flight, and No. 3 Lucile Pothier (10-0 SLC) of Abilene Christian. Hannah Brett (8-0 SLC) from McNeese State earned the No. 4 position while Abilene Christian’s Whitney Williams (11-0 SLC) took the fifth slot. Stephen F. Austin’s Liza Aginskaya (9-2 SLC) took the sixth and final spot.
A&M-Corpus Christi’s Hortense Boscher (No. 1), Celia Rodriguez (No. 4) and Maider Martin (No. 5) along with Stephen F. Austin’s Dhanielly Quevedo (No. 2), McNeese’s Sarah Jurakova (No. 3), and Sam Houston State’s Maddie Mornmore (No. 6) all make up the singles second team.
Southeastern’s Villarreal and Dalina Dahlmans, who were 9-1 at No. 1 doubles in league play this season, earned first-team doubles honors. Abilene Christian’s No. 2 doubles team of Pothiers and Kaysie Hermsdorf also earned a 9-1 record and first-team honors. Hortense Boscher and Alexandra Belle of A&M-Corpus Christi were undefeated in conference play at the No. 3 flight, fighting their way to a 7-0 record and the final doubles spot.
Second-team doubles featured Nataly Krutova and Polina Ivanova (No. 1) of Northwestern State, Maider Martin and Celia Rodriguez (No. 2) of A&M-Corpus Christi and Central Arkansas’ Rada Manataweewat and Qili Ma (No. 3).
The 2016 All-Southland Conference women's tennis teams are comprised of six first-team and six second-team singles members and three first-team and three second-team doubles squads. Teams are chosen by vote of the league's head coaches and sports information directors. Recipients are placed on the teams by the number of votes received. Voting panelists are not permitted to vote for their own student-athletes.
This is the first year for the league to recognize all-conference by flight for the singles and doubles positions.
The 2016 Southland Women's Tennis Tournament begins Friday at the Schlief Tennis Center in Nacogdoches, Texas. First-round quarterfinal action begins at 11 a.m. and the semifinal matches will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday. The championship match is slated for Sunday at 2 p.m. Admission is free to all matches of the tournament and more information can be found by visiting
Southland.org.
2016 All-Southland Conference Women's Tennis Teams and Individual Awards
Player of the Year: Renee Villarreal, Southeastern Louisiana
Freshman of the Year: Giovanna Fioretti, McNeese State
Newcomer of the Year: Hortense Boscher, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Coach of the Year: Steve Moore, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
First-Team Singles
No. 1 Renee Villarreal, Southeastern Louisiana
No. 2 Jelena Dzinic, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
No. 3 Lucile Pothier, Abilene Christian
No. 4 Hannah Brett, McNeese State
No. 5 Whitney Williams, Abilene Christian
No. 6 Liza Aginskaya, Stephen F. Austin
Second-Team Singles
No. 1 Hortense Boscher, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
No. 2 Dhanielly Quevedo, Stephen F. Austin
No. 3 Sarah Jurakova, McNeese State
No. 4 Celia Rodriguez, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
No. 5 Maider Martin, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
No. 6 Maddie Mornmore, Sam Houston State
Singles Honorable Mention
No. 1 Natalya Krutova, Northwestern State
No. 2 Andrea Ivanovic, Lamar
No. 3 Judit Vives, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
No. 4 Polina Ivanova, Northwestern State
No. 5 Vanesa Pardo, Stephen F. Austin
No. 6 Krizia Buck, Central Arkansas
First-Team Doubles
No. 1 R. Villarreal/D. Dahlmans, Southeastern Louisiana
No. 2 L. Pothier/K. Hermsdorf, Abilene Christian
No. 3 H. Boscher/A. Belle, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Second-Team Doubles
No. 1 N. Krutova/P. Ivanova, Northwestern State
No. 2 M. Martin/ C. Rodriguez, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
No. 3 R. Manataweewat/Q. Ma, Central Arkansas
Doubles Honorable Mention
No. 1 E. Walker/W. Williams, Abilene Christian
No. 2 I. Varanian/P. Mutel, Northwestern State
No. 3 D. Raygadas/M. Kaltenbacher, Southeastern Louisiana