NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State University's Redshirt-Junior Veronika Golanova was named Missouri Valley Conference Women's Tennis Player of the year and was selected to the No. 1 singles All-Conference team. Golanova's teammate and No. 1 doubles partner Jelena Karla Vujicic was named to the MVC All-Select team as a sophomore, the league announced Thursday.
Golanova completed conference play undefeated at No. 1 singles and owns a 13-8 regular season record, but currently sits at 20-11 for the overall 2017-18 season. This fall she finished the MVC Individual Championships as a finalist in one singles.
She consistently remains in both No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles with partners Vujicic and Jana Kustkova. With partner Kustkova the duo was selected twice for MVC doubles team of the week and she earned the honor once with partner Vujicic. Golanova was also named singles player of the week three times in the 2018 season, giving her a total of six player of the week honors. In the 2017 tournament season, the No. 1 doubles tandem of Golanova and Vujicic claimed the MVC Individual doubles title over Bradley, and currently the duo owns a 9-2 record in the 2018 dual season. With the victory over Bradley, Golanova claimed her third MVC Individuals doubles championship title.
This season Golanova has excelled on and off the tennis court, owning a 3.72 GPA majoring in Exercise Science. She was recently selected as the Darlene A. Kluka Scholarship recipient, an honor given to a female athlete that demonstrates strong academic achievement and intends to enter the field of coaching. She also was named an ITA Scholar-Athlete and an MVC First Team Scholar-Athlete.
Vujicic has remained in the No. 2 singles slot for two consecutive years with ISU. This year she owns a 6-5 dual season record and a 10-10 overall record for the 2017-18 season. She claimed the MVC Individual Championships doubles title in the No. 1 doubles position with partner Golanova. Vujicic also claimed a flight two singles victory over Stony Brook, landing her the third-place title in the MVC Individual Championships this fall.
Golanova, Vujicic and the women's tennis team are seeded No. 3 in the Missouri Valley Conference Team Championships and are set to face the No. 6 seed, UNI at 10 a.m. on Friday. The Championships are hosted by Missouri State University and are being held in Springfield, Missouri. Click HERE for the full MVC Team Championship Bracket.
RESULTS
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