Bears Place Four on All-SoCon Teams

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Mercer women's tennis program earned four All-Southern Conference postseason awards for 2023 announced by the league office. Teodora Ristic and Mary Weston Courville were named to the All-SoCon Singles First Team, Ristic and Courville were selected for the All-SoCon Doubles First Team, and Marina de Diego Quinones was awarded SoCon All-Freshman Team honors.

Ristic just earned her second SoCon Player of the Week honor of the season after winning eight of the last nine matches in singles. The Nis, Serbia, native went 13-8 overall and 6-1 in the conference in singles with her only league loss to the SoCon Player of the Year, Laylo Bakhodirova of ETSU. 10 of Ristic's wins were in straight sets.

Courville led the team in singles wins this season with a 15-6 overall record and a perfect 7-0 record in the conference. The senior is one of just four players to finish 7-0 in the league this spring. Courville was named SoCon Player of the Week on April 11 after a 6-0 showing that week, including clinching the match against Wofford.

As a pair, Ristic and Courville were nearly unstoppable. The duo finished 14-7 overall and 6-1 in the conference. The highlight of their season came against Furman when Ristic and Courville took down 71^st-ranked Jess Dawson and Sara Snyder, 6-1; the Paladin duo also earned All-SoCon Doubles First Team honors. Ristic and Courville finished the regular season on a seven-match winning streak.

In her true freshman season, de Diego Quinones recorded double figure singles wins and defeated two conference opponents in singles and three in doubles. She earned her first-career SoCon doubles win against Chattanooga, opened her SoCon singles account against Wofford, and concluded the season 2-0 against UNCG. The Murcia, Spain, native teamed up with Kristin Yordanova in doubles the whole season on court three.

NOTABLES

Ristic and Courville are the first Mercer pair to be named to the All-SoCon Singles First Team together.
Ristic and Courville are the fifth and sixth Mercer players to ever earn All-SoCon Singles First Team honors since the Bears joined the Southern Conference in 2015.
Ristic and Courville are the first to be named to the All-SoCon Singles First Team since 2019.
Ristic and Courville are the first-ever Mercer duo to earn All-SoCon Doubles First Team honors.
The only other Mercer doubles pair to be awarded All-SoCon honors was Courville and Naya Tillitt who were named to the 2022 All-SoCon Doubles Second Team.
De Diego Quinones is the first All-Freshman Team winner for the Bears in the SoCon.

The Mercer women's tennis program begins play in the Southern Conference Championships on Thursday, April 20 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The fourth-seeded Bears will face No. 5 Chattanooga in the first round at 1 p.m.

2023 ALL-SOUTHERN CONFERENCE AWARDS
2023 Southern Conference Player of the Year
Laylo Bakhodirova, Sr., ETSU

2023 Southern Conference Freshman of the Year
Isabella Sambola, Western Carolina

2023 Southern Conference Coach of the Year
Ricky Rojas, ETSU

2023 Southern Conference Sportsmanship Award
Breda Brennan, So., Wofford

2023 All-Southern Conference Women's Tennis
First team
Singles
Laylo Bakhodirova, ETSU
Maria Fernanda Carvajal, ETSU
Ellie Schulson, Furman
Teodora Ristic, Mercer
Mary Weston Courville, Mercer
Alexis Lopez, Samford
Doubles
Laylo Bakhodirova/Mariya Shumeika, ETSU
Maria Fernanda Carvajal/Daniela Rivera, ETSU
Jess Dawson/Sara Snyder, Furman
Mary Weston Courville/Teodora Ristic, Mercer

Second team
Singles (by position)
No. 1 – Jessie Young, Chattanooga
No. 2 – Breda Brennan, Wofford
No. 3 – Brianna Wilbur, Wofford
No. 4 – Rozalie Dohnalova, Chattanooga
No. 5 – Daniela Rivera, ETSU
No. 6 – Luca Victoria Vocke, Furman
Doubles
No. 1 – Caroline Gibbens/Jessie Young, Chattanooga
No. 2 – Rozalie Dohnalova/Lucia Melendez, Chattanooga
No. 3 – Jade Groen/Andrea Redondo, Western Carolina

All-Freshman
Luca Victoria Vocke, Furman
Marina de Diego Quinones, Mercer
Cameron Rogin, Samford
Jade Groen, Western Carolina
Leilany Ipunesso, Western Carolina
Isabella Sambola, Western Carolina

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Players Mentioned

Mary Weston Courville

Marina de Diego Quinones

Teodora Ristic

Kristin Yordanova

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