FOREST, Va. --- Spring poll rollouts continue today with the announcement of the 2023 ODAC Women's Tennis Coaches Poll. Washington and Lee University, winners of 19 straight women's tennis league trophies, is the favorite to add another piece of hardware to its mantle after collecting 144 total points thanks to 12 first place votes in the annual survey.

Sweet Briar College, runner-up to W&L each of the past two seasons, garnered the remaining top nod to finish second in the table with 132 markers. Conference newcomer Averett University is expected to challenge immediately with the Cougars sitting third with 116 tallies. Virginia Wesleyan University also cracked the century mark with 104 points to slot fourth.

In the following sections, we take a quick look back at last season and some results from the fall as we get a feel for what to expect for the upcoming women's tennis spring campaign.

2022 ODAC TOURNAMENT | BRACKET
ODAC teams enjoyed a returned to the standard conference tournament format with quarterfinal matches played at the #1-4 seeds during the midweek with a weekend final four. Last season's host for the last three league postseason matches was Washington and Lee.

• Washington and Lee and Sweet Briar squared off for the ODAC title for the second time in as many seasons.
• The Generals, seeded first, earned a 5-0 victory over #8 Roanoke College in the quarterfinals and then punched their championship match-ticket with a 5-0 positive result over #4 Shenandoah University in the semifinals.
• The Vixens, playing as the #2 seed, topped fifth-seeded Bridgewater College, 5-0, in the quarterfinals and duplicated that effort with a 5-0 shutout of #3 University of Lynchburg in the semifinals.
• In the championship contest, Washington and Lee won all three doubles matches and then saw Becket Waters at #3 singles and Marta Mikos at #4 singles earn victories in their head-to-head matches with Sofia Andrade and Allison Wandling, respectively, to give the Generals the necessary five points to clinch the ODAC title.
• The team win marked the Generals' ODAC record 31st overall and 19th straight league crown.
• For Sweet Briar, the event marked the Vixens' second straight championship match appearance, their first two title challenges since the ODAC went to a head-to-head team tournament format in 2007.

2022 NCAA DIVISION III TOURNAMENT - TEAM

• Automatic qualifier Washington and Lee represented the ODAC in the Division III team tournament and was selected to host an early round pod.
• The nationally 21st-ranked Generals wasted no time picking up their first win via a 5-0 result over St. Mary's College (Md.) in the first round.
• W&L's stay in the bracket came to an end in round two with a 5-1 loss to #15 University of Mary Washington.

2022 NCAA DIVISION III TOURNAMENT - SINGLES/DOUBLES

• Former ODAC Player of the Year Taylor Garcia from Washington and Lee was selected one of 32 players in the NCAA Division III National Singles Tournament bracket.
• Garcia posted a three-set victory over Amy Cui from Amherst College, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5, in round one.
• In round two, Garcia squared off with Erika Ekstrand from Williams College; the Ephs standout won, 6-3, 6-0, to close Garcia's season.

ITA ALL-AMERICA AND REGIONAL AWARDS

• W&L's Taylor Garcia and  Gabi Moss earned special honors from the ITA following the national tournaments.
• Garcia was tabbed the Atlantic South Player of the Year and was joined by Moss in earning All-American honors; Garcia is now a two-time All-American, while the recognition was a first for Moss.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING NATIONALLY ENTERING THE 2023 SPRING SEASON

• ITA National and Regional Rankings - Team: the ITA published its latest nationally and regional rankings on January 17, 2023; Washington and Lee is ranked 21st in the national poll and #5 in the Atlantic South Region.
• ITA National and Regional Rankings - Individual (11/17/22):
  • National Singles: Washington and Lee's Izzy Koziol is the 46th-ranked singles player following the spring season.
  • National Doubles: Generals tandem Lauren Long and Margaret Carlton are slotted 12th on the national doubles ranking chart.
  • Atlantic South Region Singles: Koziol is ranked 12th in the region, while Sweet Briar's Ruth de Souza is #15 in the Atlantic South.
  • Atlantic South Region Doubles: Long and Carlton sit fourth in the region; teammate Koziol Marta Mikos (no longer with the team) were ranked seventh in the Atlantic South.

RETURNING ALL-ODAC TALENT | 2022 ALL-ODAC WOMEN'S TENNIS AWARDS
Last season, the spring campaign opened with all but six All-ODAC players from 2020-21 schedule occupying conference rosters. This year's bounty of returning talent is identical with again only a half-dozen all-league standouts back from the 2022 award lists.

Additionally, each of three special award winners is back with six-time ODAC Coach of the Year Erin Ness featuring ODAC Player of the Year, Gabi Moss, among her four All-ODAC returners. ODAC Rookie of the Year, Ana Patino, is among the feature stars that earned six All-ODAC honors on Sweet Briar's 2022-23 roster. Unversity of Lynchburg's Elizabeth Teefey is back after collecting ODAC/Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete of the Year laurels.

   FIRST TEAM SINGLES

• #1 Singles: Gabi Moss, W&L
• #2 Singles: Jahveesha Combs, SU
• #2 Singles: Ana Patino, SBC
• #3 Singles: Elizabeth Teefey, LYN
• #4 Singles: Allison Wandling, SBC
• #5 Singles: Meagan Donovan, W&L

   FIRST TEAM DOUBLES

• #1 Doubles: Jahveesha Combs, SU -- partner Natalia Garcia Molina graduated
• #1 Doubles: Ruth de Souza/Allison Wandling, SBC
• #2 Doubles: Elizabeth Teefey/Grace Teefey, LYN
• #3 Doubles: Alexa Hardesty, LYN -- partner Alissa Anderson graduated

   SECOND TEAM SINGLES

• #1 Singles: Ruth de Souza, SBC
• #3 Singles: Becket Waters, W&L
• #5 Singles: Isabela Guilarte, SBC
• #6 Singles: Grace Knighton, BC

   SECOND TEAM DOUBLES

• #1 Doubles: Halle Fernstrum, RC -- partner Lucy Collins graduated
• #2 Doubles: Lily Kimble/Ariella Stepleman, SU
• #3 Doubles: Emily Daigneault/Ryan Roeber, BC

WELCOME TO THE ODAC!

• Averett University became the 15th full-time member of the ODAC on July 1 and began its first season of ODAC women's tennis in the fall; the Cougars previously played out of the USA South Athletic Conference.
• Head coach Bert Poole, in his eighth season guiding the Cougars, boasts a squad that won the USA South East Division title with a 9-0 mark in league play; the Cougars fell in the conference tournament title match to Piedmont (5-3) following wins over Brevard (9-0) in the quarterfinals and Southern Virginia (5-2) in the semifinals; AU finished with a 14-5 overall record.
• AU's 2022-23 rosters features one of its three All-USA South award winners from last season; Paula Ryhsen was an East Division First Team selection.

FROM THE FALL 2022
ODAC teams and student-athletes competed in several events during the fall campaign. Below a few highlights from those outings, offering a preview of what is to come during the spring slate.

• ITA Southeast Regional Championships
  • Championship Draw: Washington and Lee's Izzy Koziol advanced to the quarterfinals before bowing out to Crystal Zhou from Carnegie Mellon; W&L had two doubles teams reach the semifinals; Margaret Carlton and Lauren Long defeated Amanda Hagino and Hana Kimmey from Mary Washington to advance to the final; they finished as the runner up to Danna Taylor and Crystal Zhou from Carnegie Mellon; Koziol and Marta Mikos fell to Taylor and Zhou in the other semifinal contest.
  • "A" Draw: W&L's Kaitlyn Chalker won the singles title with an 8-7 (7-2) victory over Lisa Messier from Swarthmore.
  • "B" Draw: SBC's Isabela Guilarte advanced to the final in the singles draw, finishing as the runner-up to Anika Joshi from Carnegie Mellon; it was an all ODAC final in the doubles draw with AU's Alejandra Garcia and Paula Ryhsen topping LYN's Elizabeth Teefey and Grace Teefey, 8-7 (7-3).
  • "C" Draw: AU's Keira Gunning finished as the runner-up to Abhishree Menon from Haverford in the singles competition; Gunning was joined by Brenda Poulakidas in reaching the finals of the doubles draw, where they finished as the runner-up to Annie Barrett and Sriya Krishnan from Haverford.
  • "D" Draw: AU's Brenda Poulakidas won the singles competition with an 8-7 (7-4) victory over Dickinson's Ari Goitz.
  • "E" Draw: AU's Amelie Brune won the singles competition with an 8-2 triumph over Ursinus' Shannon Stewart.
• ITA Cup | W&L's doubles pairing of Margaret Carlton and Lauren Long qualified for the ITA Cup from their strong showing at the ITA regional championships; on day one, they dropped their first match to Angel Le and Arianna Castellanos from Whitman College; on day two, they fell to Ida Krause and Dakota Fordham from NYU in their first match, but closed their Cup experience with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Amelia Asfaw and Mariam Nechiporuk from Carleton College.
• Early Head-to-Head Matches: Several ODAC schools participated in matches during the fall season, including Washington and Lee with a perfection 4-0 mark in ODAC play; Randolph-Macon went 2-1 overall with a 1-1 record againt conference foes. Hollins, Randolph, Roanoke, and Shenandoah each earned a non-conference victory.

THE SCHEDULE AND TOURNAMENT

• ODAC teams will compete in a 10-match conference regular season using an unbalanced schedule
• The start of play in the spring season is a bit sporadic with teams beginning matches on February 4 and picking up steam as the month draws on; all teams should be in action (barring weather) by the middle of the month.
• The ODAC Tournament is an eight-team standard bracket format competed over three rounds with a final-four format at one host site
  
  • Quarterfinals: Tuesday, April 25, at the #1-4 Seeds.
  • Semifinals: Saturday, April 29, at Virginia Wesleyan (earlier time slots).
  • Championship: Sunday, April 30, at Virginia Wesleyan (early time slot).
• The selections for the NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Team Tournament will be announced on Monday, May 1; the draws for the singles and doubles tournaments will be announced later that week.

Listed below is the 2023 ODAC Women's Tennis Coaches Poll. For more information on ODAC women's tennis, visit the websites of any of the participating schools, or go to the ODAC's home on the Internet at www.odaconline.com.  Don't forget to become a fan of the ODAC on Facebook and follow @odacathletics on Twitter and Instagram.

2023 ODAC WOMEN'S TENNIS COACHES POLL