Gators women’s tennis earns 6 individual awards, All-SEC Academic Team honors

The Florida Gators not only excel in competition but also the classroom, as the ITA’s announcement on Monday demonstrates.

The Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced the 2024 Division I Women’s ITA Scholar-Athletes and All-Academic Teams on Monday. The Florida women’s tennis program was awarded an All-Academic Team recognition while six individuals were honored as 2024 ITA Scholar-Athletes.

Gators academic standouts [autotag]Alicia Dudeney[/autotag], [autotag]Bente Spee[/autotag], [autotag]Qavia Lopez[/autotag], [autotag]Sara Dahlstrom[/autotag], [autotag]Sophie Williams[/autotag] and [autotag]Malwina Rowinska[/autotag] are the six ITA Scholar-Athletes representing the Orange and Blue in the announcement.

Within the sport of tennis, student-athletes continue to exceed expectations in the classroom and on the court. In 2024, 1,573 Division I women’s student-athletes were named an ITA Scholar-Athlete and 255 women’s tennis programs were awarded the All-Academic Team distinction.

Requirements for awards qualification

For individuals:

  • Have a student grade point average of at least 3.5 (on a 4.00 scale) for the current academic year;
  • Be listed on the institutional eligibility form

ITA All-Academic Team:

  • Have a team grade point average of 3.2 or above (on a 4.00 scale);
  • All student-athletes included should be listed on the institutional eligibility form;
  • All varsity letter winners should be factored into the cumulative team GPA for the current academic year

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Quartet of Lady Gators tennis players earn SEC post-season awards

Here are the four Florida standouts on the women’s circuit this postseason.

The Florida women’s tennis program got some good news on Wednesday when the Southeastern Conference announced the 2024 postseason awards, which included a quartet of Gators: [autotag]Rachel Gailis[/autotag], [autotag]Carly Briggs[/autotag], [autotag]Qavia Lopez[/autotag] and [autotag]Malwina Rowinska[/autotag].

Seventh-ranked sophomore Gailis was named to the First Team All-SEC Team after posting a 21-6, 9-2 SEC record while tallying seven wins over nationally ranked opponents. Briggs, who is ranked No. 57 in the country,  was selected to the All-SEC Second Team holding an 8-2 conference record, including an undefeated run at the SEC Tournament.

Lopez was selected to the All-Freshman team after an impressive first season in Gainesville, becoming the ninth in program history to be named SEC Freshman of the Week twice and the first Gator to earn the honor three times. Rowinska was also named to the All-Freshman team after an impressive campaign on the doubles side with partner Alicia Dudeney.

First-team and second-team All-SEC honorees, All-Freshman team, along with Player, Coach and Freshman of the Year were chosen by the league’s 14 coaches. Coaches cannot vote for their team or players, and ties are not broken.

First Team All-SEC:
Carolyn Ansari, Auburn
Ariana Arseneault, Auburn
Carolina Gomez Alonso, Arkansas
Rachel Gailis, Florida
Dasha Vidmanova, Georgia
Ayana Akli, South Carolina
Sarah Hamner, South Carolina
Sofia Cabezas, Tennessee
Nicole Khirin, Texas A&M
Mary Stoiana, Texas A&M
Mia Kupres, Texas A&M
Celia-Belle Mohr, Vanderbilt

Second Team All-SEC:
Anne Marie Hiser, Alabama
Petra Sedlackova, Alabama
DJ Bennett, Auburn
Angella Okutoyi, Auburn
Carly Briggs, Florida
Anastasiia Lopata, Georgia
Alexandra Vecic, Georgia
Mell Reasco, Georgia
Guillermina Grant, Georgia
Aran Teixidó Garcia, LSU
Catherine Aulia, Tennessee
Elza Tomase, Tennessee
Lucciana Perez, Texas A&M

All-Freshman Team:
Malwina Rowinska, Florida
Qavia Lopez, Florida
Aysegul Mert, Georgia
Julia Zhu, Kentucky
Kenna Erickson, LSU
Lucciana Perez, Texas A&M
Valeria Ray, Vanderbilt

Player of the Year:
Mary Stoiana, Texas A&M

Freshmen of the Year:
Lucciana Perez, Texas A&M

Coach of the Year:
Drake Bernstein, Georgia

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Gators women’s tennis adds international standout to roster

The Lady Gators will get a boost from a top European tennis player this coming season.

The Florida women’s tennis team added [autotag]Malwina Rowinska[/autotag], a native of Warsaw, Poland, to its roster for the upcoming season, according to an announcement made by head coach Roland Thornqvist on Saturday.

The 5-foot-4-inch amateur currently sits at No. 81 in the World Junior Rankings, having recorded 818.5 points over 42 career tournaments; Rowinska’s highest ranking was No. 51. She was also ranked seventh in U16 and tenth in U14 before gaining two singles titles in the U18 category.

The 18-year-old most recently stood out at the European Junior Championships, where she and her partner Zuzanna Pawlikowska made it to the doubles finals. Rowinska currently holds 11 doubles titles in the U18 category as well as four national championships in singles, doubles and team play.

She also earned a 2022 US Open doubles quarterfinal appearance, and competed at the Australian Open Juniors and Wimbledon. The Polish standout will fit in well with the others in Florida’s women’s tennis program this coming season.

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