Editor’s Note: The following is an official press release courtesy of LSU’s athletics department.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Redshirt freshman Anastasiya Komar of the LSU women’s tennis team has been named the SEC Co-Player of the Week alongside Texas A&M’s Mary Stoiana, the league office announced on Wednesday.
The conference honor is Komar’s first in her collegiate career and adds another accolade to a tremendous debut campaign for the Tigers. The Minsk, Belarus native joined the program in the spring of 2022, but sat out the season due to an injury.
This past week, Komar helped the Tigers secure their third and fourth SEC wins of the season by going perfect in both singles and doubles. On Friday night against Mississippi State, Komar and doubles partner Kylie Collins gave LSU the perfect start to the match with a 6-3 win over Emma Antonaki and Dharani Niroshan at the top doubles court. The Tigers would go on to claim the doubles point and take a 1-0 lead in the match. In singles, Komar earned her eighth ranked singles win after defeating No. 104 Antonaki in a come-from-behind effort. Komar dropped the first set, 6-4, but replied with a 6-3 win in the second to force a third. The third set saw the two players split the first ten games, 5-5, but Komar won the final two games to win the set, 7-5, and clinch victory.
On Sunday’s match against Ole Miss, Komar and Collins improved to 8-0 in doubles when playing together with a 6-3 win over Lillian Gabrielsen and Kelsey Mize at the top court. The Tigers went on to claim the doubles point and take a 1-0 lead into singles. In singles, Komar scored LSU’s first singles point of the afternoon after getting a straight set win over No. 69 Ludmila Kareisova. Komar edged set one, 6-4, and went on to comfortably win the second by a score of 6-2. The win was her ninth against a ranked opponent this season and gave LSU a 2-1 lead in the match. The Tigers would go on to win the match, 5-2.
With her wins this past weekend, Komar became the first LSU women’s tennis player to reach 30 singles wins in an overall season since 2016. Additionally, her nine singles wins in SEC matches thus far this season ties her for most in the conference. As a result of her recent success, she moved to a new career high of No. 17 in the latest ITA singles rankings and stayed in the top 10 in doubles with Kylie Collins at No. 10.
Komar and the Tigers are back on the courts this weekend for the final pair of regular season matches, opening with an away match at Vanderbilt at noon CT on Friday, April 14.
For more information on the LSU women’s tennis program follow the Tigers on Twitter @lsuwten , on Instagram @LSUWTen , and on www.Facebook.com/lsuwten.