SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Great Lakes Valley Conference announced Thursday evening that University of Indianapolis junior Hanna Volikova has been named the 2018 GLVC Player of the Year in the sport of women’s tennis. Teammate Alina Kislitskaya was named GLVC Freshman of the Year, and the Coach of the Year will be awarded to the coach of the tournament’s winning team. The pair of Greyhounds was selected by the league coaches and recognized for their efforts at an awards reception on the eve of the 2018 GLVC Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championship Tournament, which begins on Friday in Springfield, Missouri. A total of 17 student-athletes from both the GLVC East and West Divisions were recognized as All-Conference honorees. In addition, 13 student-athletes were named GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award nominees.
Volikova, the 2016 GLVC Freshman of the Year and last year’s Player of the Year, is the fifth Greyhound to earn the league’s top honor, but her recognition marks the 10th time the award has gone to a UIndy player. Stephanie Hirsch was the other most recent recipient of the award in 2015, while GLVC Hall of Famer June Wernke was a four-time Player of the Year from 1986-89, Pamela Rodriguez earned back-to-back selections in 1996 and 1997, and Grace Wilhoite picked up the first laurel in 2002. Volikova went 16-2 in dual matches this spring with only three of her match victories going to three sets. Overall for 2017-18 at No. 1 singles, the junior holds a 27-3 record that includes tournament results from the fall campaign. Of those tournament results, she finished runner up at Nationals while partnering with Kislitskaya to win the ITA Midwest Regional Tournament and the ITA National Doubles Tournament for the first time in program history. The duo was also runner-up at the ITA Superbowl Tournament. The product of Yalta, Crimea, Ukraine, is ranked fifth in the nation in singles and finds herself second in doubles with Kislitskaya, playing at No. 1 with a 12-5 dual record and 26-6 overall mark. She was named the GLVC Player of the Week Feb. 20 and was the only unanimous selection on the All-GLVC team.
Kislitskaya joins four other Greyhounds as the top league freshman, following in the footsteps of Volikova, Pamela Rodriguez (1996), Janik Belisle (1997), and Gayal Jones (2000). Kislitskaya went 16-1 in dual matches this spring, spending most of her time at the No. 2 spot with a 9-1 record and was 7-0 at No. 3 singles. During the fall portion of the season, she went 7-1 in singles. Only one of her singles matches went to three sets, and that was against Division I competition. Additionally, Kislitskaya was 12-5 in doubles with Volikova at No. 1, as two of those losses came at the hands of Division I opponents. Of the pair’s doubles victories this spring, they gave up more than three points to only one opponent. The newcomer was also named to the All-GLVC team.
UIndy and Drury headline the 17-member All-GLVC squad with three nods apiece, while Bellarmine University, Lewis University, University of Missouri-St. Louis, and Rockhurst University all earned two honorees. The selections included nine players each from the East Division, due to a tie, and eight from the West. Joining Volikova and Kislitskaya from UIndy is senior Florence Renard, while senior Larissa Karl, junior JiaQing Mo and sophomore Chung-Yen Huang were the three Drury selections. Bellarmine is represented by sophomore Ashley Jonathan and junior Maggie Walroth, while Lewis’ selections came for graduate student Dora Andrejszki and senior Nora Mindiyarova. UMSL’s recognition came via junior Salome Bleuler and sophomore Marina Prediger, while Rockhurst collected nods for freshman Samantha Czarnecki and junior Emma Persson. University of Illinois Springfield, Maryville University, and University of Southern Indiana all follow with one spot, respectively, in the form of senior Jane Carter, senior Sarah Etter, and sophomore Lauren Hambrock.
The league also recognized William Jewell as its GLVC Women's Tennis James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award team recipient, as well as 13 GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Individual Award nominees. The student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These individuals must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. The honorees are now eligible to become one of their school’s two Spalding Sportsmanship Award winners, which will be announced in May.
A complete list of All-GLVC performers and major postseason award winners can be found below.
2018 GLVC Player of the Year: Hanna Volikova, Jr., Indianapolis
2018 GLVC Freshman of the Year: Alina Kislitskaya, Fr., Indianapolis
2018 GLVC Coach of the Year: Winner of Tournament
2018 ALL-GLVC WOMEN’S TENNIS POSTSEASON AWARDS
Ashley Jonathan, So., BU
Maggie Walroth, Jr., BU
Chung-Yen Huang, So., DU
Larissa Karl, Sr., DU
JiaQing Mo, Jr., DU
Jane Carter, Sr., UIS
Alina Kislitskaya, Fr., UINDY
Florence Renard, Sr., UINDY
Hanna Volikova, Jr., UINDY#
Dora Andrejszki, Gr., LEWIS
Nora Mindiyarova, Sr., LEWIS
Sarah Etter, Sr., MU
Salome Bleuler, Jr., UMSL
Marina Prediger, So., UMSL
Samantha Czarnecki, Fr., RU
Emma Persson, Jr., RU
Lauren Hambrock, So., USI
*Extra Member Due to Tie
#Unanimous selection
2018 GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP NOMINEES
Ashley Jonathan, BU
JiaQing Mo, DU
Jane Carter, UIS
Florence Renard, UINDY
Dora Andrejszki, LEWIS
Sarah Etter, MU
Tori Lindsay, MCK
Kristine Lindal, UMSL
Rebecca McIsaac, QU
Emma Persson, RU
Jenny Mizikar, USI
Lindsey Schlichting, TSU
Whitney Holloman, WJC
2018 GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP TEAM AWARD
William Jewell