Elon Women’s Tennis Places Five on 2019 All-CAA Teams

RICHMOND, Va. – Elon University women’s tennis placed five players on the all-conference teams as the Colonial Athletic Association announced its 2019 women’s tennis postseason awards on Thursday, May 2.

Maria Paraja headlined the award winners for Elon as she was selected to the All-CAA First Team for singles and All-CAA Second Team for doubles. Additionally, Olivia Archer collected All-CAA Second Team honors for singles, while Elon’s No. 1 duo of Alex Koniaev and Paraja and No. 2 tandem of Uma Nayar and Nicole Shiau earned All-CAA Second Team accolades on the doubles team.

Paraja finished off her career with All-CAA singles honors for the first time. She also collected her second-straight All-CAA Second Team Doubles selection. Paraja tallied 19 singles victories combined over the fall and spring seasons, which included a 15-7 record in dual matches. She finished 13-3 overall at the No. 2 position and won nine of her last 10 singles contests. She also recorded a 9-8 mark at No. 1 doubles with Koniaev to earn All-CAA Second Team honors for the second consecutive season. Paraja concludes her career with 51 dual match singles wins, which ranks tied for sixth all-time in program history.

Archer had a stellar freshman season and finished with a team-best 24 singles wins combined in the fall and spring season to earn Second Team All-CAA Singles honors. She posted a fantastic 17-4 singles record in the spring as she continued to move up in the lineup. Moving all the way up from the No. 6 position to the No. 3 slot, Archer finished a perfect 5-0 on court three and won five straight matches to end the year. Her 17 singles wins in dual matches ranks fifth all-time in single-season program history.

Koniaev and Paraja each claimed their second-career All-CAA Second Team honor for doubles. The duo finished with nine doubles wins during the spring and the tandem played at the No. 1 position. The duo had a big win in doubles during the CAA Championship quarterfinals, earning a 6-1 win at the top position to help the Phoenix clinch the doubles point en-route to a 4-1 victory over Drexel. The duo finished the year winning six of their last 10 matches.

Nayar and Shiau earned their first-career All-CAA accolade with Second Team Doubles honors. The tandem finished the spring season with a team-best 11-4 record at the No. 2 position. Finishing the year 8-2 in their last 10 matches, Nayar and Shiau finished 4-0 in doubles against fellow CAA opponents during the regular season. Each of their matches in the 2019 CAA Championships went unfinished when the pair had a lead in both.

The Colonial Athletic Association also named its major award winners for the 2018 season. College of Charleston’s Christi Woodson was named CAA Player of the Year, Mila Saric of William & Mary took home CAA Rookie of the Year, and James Madison’s head coach Shelley Jaudon claimed CAA Coach of the Year honors.

2019 All-CAA Women’s Tennis Teams

First Team
Singles
Daria Afanasyeva, James Madison
Rosie Cheng, William & Mary
Maria Paraja, Elon
Natalia Perry, William & Mary
Christi Woodson, Charleston
Salma Ziouti, Drexel

Doubles
Daria Afanasyeva, James Madison
Emma Petersen, James Madison
Vitoria Okuyama William & Mary
Clara Tanielian, William & Mary
Anastasia Palaska, Charleston
Christi Woodson, Charleston

Second Team
Singles
Abby Amos, James Madison
Olivia Archer, Elon
Caragh Courtney, Delaware
Eva Nyikos, Charleston
Alejandra Ruffini, Hofstra
Mila Saric, William & Mary
Daniela Voloh, James Madison

Doubles
Alex Koniaev, Elon
Maria Paraja, Elon
Sabrina Barisano, UNCW
Maddy Muller-Hughes, UNCW
Uma Nayar, Elon
Nicole Shiau, Elon

2019 CAA Player of the Year: Christi Woodson, Charleston
2019 CAA Rookie of the Year: Mila Saric, William & Mary
2019 CAA Coach of the Year: Shelley Jaudon, James Madison