TROY, N.Y. – After starting Spring Break with a pair of wins on Sunday, the Union College women's tennis team swept the Liberty League weekly awards, announced on Monday. Junior
Gracie Nicol was named the Singles Performer of the Week and teamed with senior
Marilena Karadimou for Doubles Team of the Week honors, while first-year
Chara Meidani earned the Rookie of the Week award as well.
Nicol and Karadimou earn Doubles Team of the Week honors for the second time this season (September 6), while Nicol's singles honor and Meidani's rookie laurels are the first of their respective careers.
It marks the first time Union women's tennis has won Performer and Rookie of the Week in the same season since 2021 and the first time since 2017 that Union has swept all three weekly awards.
The three players combined to play a role in five of Union's six wins in a 6-3 victory over Millikin University on Sunday, snapping the Big Blue's seven-match winning streak and earning Union's first victory of 2023.
Nicol earned Union's first singles victory of the day at the second-singles flight, fighting off Emily Markus in a 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 win. Nicol started the day with another win, teaming with Karadimou to defeat Nikol Obradovic and Alexandra Ristfeldt by an 8-6 score at first doubles to give Union a lead heading into singles play.
Nicol and Karadimou are 8-7 on the doubles courts this season, including winning the "A" doubles title at the Mary Hosking Invitational in September. Nicol has also posted a 6-9 mark in singles play so far this year, with her 14 combined victories second on the team to Karadimou.
Meidani also earned a pair of victories against Millikin on Sunday. She teamed with classmate
Kennedy Alexis to pick up Union's first point of the day with an 8-2 win at second doubles over Markus and D Galvan, and then put Union one point away from a victory by defeating Brianna Barconi by a 6-4, 6-1 score at third singles.
The first-year has picked up seven victories so far in her first collegiate season, with three coming on the singles court and four coming alongside Alexis in doubles play.
After taking today off, Union will return to action tomorrow with a 1 p.m. match against Oberlin College.
