NORMAL, Ill. – After sweeping the regular season and earning the No. 1 seed in this weekend's Missouri Valley Conference Tennis Championship, Illinois State collected a slew of honors Thursday from the league office at the annual awards banquet. ISU head coach Maja Kovacek was named the MVC Coach of the Year and Nevena Kolarevic was named the league's Freshman of the Year among other team honors in the annual vote of league head coaches.
The MVC Women's Tennis Coach of the Year honor is the third for Kovacek in the last four seasons (award was not given in 2020 due to COVID-19). Just as she did in 2021 when she was last named MVC Coach of the Year, Kovacek led the Redbirds to an undefeated mark during the 2023 conference regular season at 8-0 and has ISU in the No. 1 spot in the MVC Championship. The regular-season championship is the third in the last five seasons for the Redbirds, who also won the 2022 MVC Championship to earn a berth in to the NCAA Tournament.
With a stellar start to her collegiate career, Kolarevic becomes the sixth Redbird in school history to be named the league's Freshman of the Year, joining her teammate Tijana Zlatanovic who last earned the honor in 2021. The Belgrade, Serbia, native amassed an overall record of 24-8 during the 2022-23 season, including a 16-4 mark during the spring dual season. Playing mostly at the No. 3 spot for the Redbirds, Kolarevic went 7-1 in MVC play which also earned her All-MVC honors.
In addition to the "Of The Year" honors, Illinois State claimed three of the six singles spots on the 2023 MVC All-Conference team (including Kolarevic at the No. 3 spot), as well as two of the three All-MVC doubles pairings.
Senior Alexandra Abyasova took home All-MVC honors at No. 2 singles, with her 24-6 overall record and perfect 8-0 mark in MVC play. The Moscow, Russia, native has ripped off a streak of 11 straight wins for the Redbirds and was a perfect 17-0 during the spring dual season at the No. 2 spot.
Senior Tara Damnjanovic was named MVC All-Conference at the No. 4 singles position, after posting a 21-12 overall record on the season with a 7-1 mark at the No. 4 spot during MVC play. The Valjevo, Serbia, native heads into the MVC Championship having won seven of her last ten matches in a row.
For the second year in a row, Zlatanovic was one of six MVC "All-Select" team members, with her 4-3 record at the No. 1 spot for the Redbirds. Overall, the Salzburg, Austria, native has posted a 15-16 record in singles play for the Redbirds and was 4-3 at the No. 1 spot in the lineup for ISU during MVC play.
The No. 1 doubles team of Zlatanovic and Tara Damnjanovic were voted the league's top doubles tandem for the third season in a row. The duo won MVC Doubles Team of the Week honors five times during the 2023 season and posted a 7-1 record at the No. 1 spot during conference play. Overall, the duo is 23-7 in doubles action, and they have won eight of their last ten matches overall.
The final team recognized was that of Kolarevic and Jankulovska, who earned All-MVC honors at the No. 3 doubles spot. The tandem posted a 21-8 overall mark and were 8-0 during MVC play with wins in their last nine matches.
The Redbirds are the No. 1 overall seed in this weekend's MVC Championship. ISU will have bye on Friday and face the winner of the quarterfinal match between the No. 4 seed UIC and No. 5 seed Murray State on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. in the first of two semifinal matches.
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