BENTONVILLE, Arkansas – Following the opening round of the 2026 Great American Conference Women’s Tennis Championships, the league held its awards social. Harding’s Karli Roux won Player of the Year and Henderson State’s Emilia Nowak claimed Newcomer of the Year. Southeastern Oklahoma State’s Emelia O’Neill earned Freshman of the Year and the Savage Storm’s Cari Groce collected Coach of the Year. Southern Arkansas’ Taylor Conway received the GAC Elite Scholar Athlete - Presented By Conway Regional Health System - award.
2026 Women's Tennis All-GAC Awards
Roux, a unanimous selection as Player of the Year, posted a 13-4 record in singles play as the Lady Bisons’ No. 1 player, including 3-2 against nationally-ranked foes. She went undefeated against GAC opponents. She finished the regular season ranked No. 24 in the ITA Division II national rankings. She paired with Brooke Coffman to form the No. 6 doubles team in DII.
Nowak helped the Reddies post their best finish in the GAC, second, in program history. Playing almost exclusively in the No. 2 singles position, she went 13-3 overall, 5-0 in GAC matches. She dropped only one set to a GAC foe. She and Jordan Parker formed the No. 34 doubles team in the country. They went 11-7 as a team.
O’Neill and Groce helped the Savage Storm complete an undefeated conference season for the second time in program history. O’Neill went 12-5 in singles contests. She dropped only one match to a GAC opponent. She and partner Milana Voloshyn finished the regular season ranked 31st in the country. They beat the team of Roux and Coffman in the regular season.
Roux, Nowak and O’Neill headlined the All-GAC First Team. Roux and Nowak made the team as unanimous choices. O’Neill’s doubles partner, Voloshyn, placed on the team. She went 5-7 in singles action playing from the No. 1 position.
Angela Dorado Marin and Kristina Kozlova gave the Reddies three First-Team selections. The two formed a partnership that won their final nine matches. Dorado Marin lost only one singles match in GAC play and Kozlova went 7-8 as the Reddies’ No. 1 singles player.
Arkansas Tech’s Elis Gergel and Lucia Perez Hruba earned spots on the First Team. Gergel and Rebecca Arnold ended the regular season ranked 29th amongst Division II tandems. They went 4-1 against GAC opponents. In singles play, Gergel went 9-5 in her singles matches, including 7-0 from the No. 2 position. Perez Hruba went 10-4 in singles play, 3-1 against GAC opponents.
Ouachita Baptist’s Alice Kubler and Southern Arkansas’s Jolina Mass rounded out the All-GAC First Team. Kubler went undefeated in singles play against GAC opponents from the No. 4 position. Mass went 10-10 from the No. 1 spot, 3-2 against GAC opponents.
The All-GAC Second Team consisted of Conway, Arkansas Tech’s Nayara Alvarez and Rebecca Arnold, Southeastern Oklahoma State’s Lilly Shepherd and Amishi Shukla, SAU’s Roksana Kokocha, Harding’s Coffman, Henderson State’s Parker and Ouachita Baptist’s Ruxandra Tolescu.
A total of 22 standouts placed on the GAC Academic Honor Roll Team in Henderson State’s Marin, Kozlova, Nowak, Parker, Jenna Bohnert, Lainey Mungle and Lily Winter; Ouachita Baptist’s Kubler, Tolescu, Marlee Bledsoe, Karli Gay, Anastasia Myachina, Jennifer Pfaeflin and Natalia Zamora Caprirolo; Harding’s Natalia Alvarez, Ece Boylu and Sofia Sarmiento Ruiz; Arkansas Tech’s Gergel and Natalya Montoya, Southeastern Oklahoma State’s Shukla and Sreevally Varma Medishetti and SAU’s Kokocha.