North Atlantic Conference Announces 2023 Women's Tennis All-Conference Awards
WATERVILLE, Maine -- Lesley University sophomore
Jessica Legendre (Leesville, VA) and Eastern Nazarene University graduate student
Sofia Rojas (Medelin, Columbia) have been selected as the North Atlantic Conference Women's Tennis Co-Players of the Year. Legendre and Rojas lead the lineup of all-conference recipients as voted upon by the head women’s tennis coaches of the NAC.
Eastern Nazarene first year
Sara Poletto (Barquisimeto, Venezuela) was named the NAC Women’s Tennis Rookie of the Year, and Lesley's
Jessica Russo earned the conference’s Women’s Tennis Coach of the Year honors.
Molly Chicoine (Lewison, Maine) from Husson was recognized as the conference’s Senior Scholar Athlete in women’s tennis.
Legendre is the second Lesley women’s tennis player to earn Player of the Year honors, joining Maddie Abbott (2018-19). She remains undefeated at #1 doubles, only giving up six total games all season (within conference). Her record at #1 singles within conference is 4-1.
Rojas was a perfect 5-0 in NAC matches in #1 singles and had a 4-1 record in #2 doubles play. Overall, Rojas was 10-0 in singles at #1 and 7-3 in doubles in the #1 position. She receives the honor in Eastern Nazarene's first season of women's tennis competition in the North Atlantic Conference.
Poletto was a perfect 5-0 in singles matches in NAC play, and 2-1 in doubles play in the conference. Overall, she has an 8-2 singles mark and a record of 5-3 in doubles matches. She also earns a prestigious player honor for Eastern Nazarene's first NAC season.
Russo wins the coaching honor in Lesley's inaugural season of NAC women's tennis competition. She has led the Lynx to a 5-3 mark and a 3-2 record in NAC play for the second seed in the upcoming championship tournament. Among the season highlights for Lesley was a four-match winning streak, the best since 2014, and the first win over defending NAC Champion Husson in three seasons.
Chicoine finished the Fall season with a 3-2 overall record and a 3-2 mark in doubles. Off the court Chicoine will graduate with a bachelors or science in Nursing in the Spring having completed both licensure's as in basic life support and as a certified nursing assistant. Additionally, Chicoine has done clinical rotations for long term care at the Maine Veteran's Home, medical/surgical, maternal/newborn, cardiac/telemetry and pediatrics all at Eastern Maine Medical Center. She has been a women's tennis team captain, student representative for the Husson University Student Nurses Association and a tutor for general chemistry. She has also held positions as a pharmacy technician at Hannaford Pharmacy and a student nurse extern at Midcoast Hospital.
In addition to the major conference awards, a total of nine student-athletes were named to the All-Conference Singles and Doubles teams, and six student-athletes were named to the NAC Women’s Tennis Sportsmanship Team. Selection to the Sportsmanship Team is reserved for those who have distinguished themselves through demonstrated acts of sportsmanship and ethical behavior. The honorees have positively affected the women's tennis culture and match environment by clearly demonstrating sportsmanship and integrity beyond the tennis playing rules and etiquette.
The complete list of honorees is as follows:
Co-Players of the Year: Jessica Legendre, Lesley
Sofia Rojas, Eastern Nazarene
Rookie of the Year: Sara Poletto, Eastern Nazarene
Senior Scholar-Athlete: Molly Chicoine, Husson
Coach of the Year: Jessica Russo, Lesley
All-NAC Singles (top 6 individuals in voting)
Sofia Rojas, Eastern Nazarene
Jessica Legendre, Lesley
Mary Osucha, Lesley
Sara Poletto, Eastern Nazarene
Julia Barber, Husson
Lauren Smith, Thomas
All-NAC Doubles (top 3 pairs in voting)
Jessica Legendre / Mary Osucha, Lesley University
Pamela Gonzalez / Sofia Rojas, Eastern Nazarene
Hannah Duley / Olivia Chandler, Husson University
All-Sportsmanship Team
Mya Landry, Eastern Nazarene
Emily Doten, Husson
Matea Smith, VTSU Johnson
Brooke Whitten, Lesley
Maachah Krull, VTSU Lyndon
Libby Forgues, Thomas