PRINCETON, NJ (Apr. 23, 2026) – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) has announced the 2026 Women’s Tennis Major Award winners and All-MAAC Teams, voted on by the league’s nine head coaches.
For the second consecutive season, Quinnipiac University’s Willow Renton headlined major award winners, being named as the 2026 MAAC Player of the Year. A sophomore hailing from Goshen, Kentucky, Renton was the only unanimous selection to the All-MAAC First Team at singles for the second straight year, while also being voted to the All-MAAC First Team at doubles unanimously along with teammate Caitlin Flower. After a dominating rookie campaign in 2025 in which she was chosen as both Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year, Renton followed that up with an even more impressive sophomore season, going a perfect 8-0 at #1 singles and 7-0 at #1 doubles in the MAAC. Overall, she won 14 matches in singles play, closing the regular season on a nine match winning streak, and she also won 14 matches in doubles play with Flower. Renton’s success began before the spring season, winning the MAAC Masters Tournament in both singles and doubles during the fall, and earning the MAAC automatic qualifier to San Diego, California for the ITA Conference Masters. Moreover, Renton was a six-time MAAC Player of the Week honoree this season.
Sharing MAAC Rookie of the Year accolades were Lisa Dierick from Rider University and Ava Nelson of Sacred Heart University. Dierick, a native of Belgium, went 13-15 overall during her freshman season, playing the majority of her matches at #1 singles. In conference matches, she netted a 3-4 record, with all her matches at #1 singles. In non-conference matches, Dierick picked up wins over St. Joe's, Seton Hall, Towson, George Mason, Lehigh, Delaware State, Monmouth, and Norfolk State. Nelson, a first year from Elk River, Minnesota, was the lone rookie voted to the All-MAAC First Team at singles and All-MAAC First Team at doubles. She recorded an overall singles record of 17-8 for the year. In dual matches playing #2 singles primarily, Nelson posted a record of 11-4 overall and was 7-1 in MAAC play.
The 2026 MAAC Coach of the Year award went to Paula Miller of Quinnipiac. Miller has now been named as the league’s top coach amongst her peers nine times, garnering the awards in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2025. In 2026, Miller’s Bobcats went a perfect 8-0 in the MAAC for the second straight season, completing the program’s 10th perfect conference regular season since joining the MAAC in 2013-14, while also clinching the program’s 11th MAAC Regular Season title. Overall, her Bobcats went 16-6 and closed out the regular season on an 11 match winning streak. Quinnipiac improved to 75-2 in regular season conference play since joining the league, and 10 out of its 11 regular season crowns have been won outright.
The full list of major awards winners and All-MAAC Teams are below.
| 2026 Women’s Tennis Major Awards |
| Awards |
Player |
School |
| Player of the Year |
Willow Renton |
Quinnipiac |
| Co-Rookies of the Year |
Lisa Dierick |
Rider |
| Ava Nelson |
Sacred Heart |
| Coach of the Year |
Paula Miller |
Quinnipiac |
| All-MAAC First Team |
| Player |
Class |
Position |
School |
| Caterina Assi |
Jr. |
Singles |
Marist |
| Eirini Tsakiri |
Fr. |
Singles |
Mount St. Mary's |
| Isabella Baker |
Jr. |
Singles |
Quinnipiac |
| Willow Renton* |
So. |
Singles |
Quinnipiac |
| Ola Irla Bartyzel |
So. |
Singles |
Sacred Heart |
| Ava Nelson |
FY. |
Singles |
Sacred Heart |
| Anna Neyestani/Maria Gell |
Jr./So. |
Doubles |
Fairfield |
| Emma Perkins/Anna Barlini |
So./Fr. |
Doubles |
Mount St. Mary's |
| Willow Renton/Caitlin Flower* |
So./Jr. |
Doubles |
Quinnipiac |
| Ava Nelson/Malena del Olmo |
FY./Jr. |
Doubles |
Sacred Heart |
| Olivia Zuba/Ola Irla Bartyel* |
So./So. |
Doubles |
Sacred Heart |
| All-MAAC Second Team |
| Player |
Class |
Position |
School |
| Sophia Harris |
Fr. |
Singles |
Fairfield |
| Anna Neyestani |
Jr. |
Singles |
Fairfield |
| Cloe Clements |
Sr. |
Singles |
Marist |
| Lola Ungerman |
So. |
Singles |
Marist |
| Caitlin Flower |
Jr. |
Singles |
Quinnipiac |
| Vera Sekerina |
Sr. |
Singles |
Quinnipiac |
| Cloe Clements/Lola Ungermann |
Sr./So. |
Doubles |
Marist |
| Viktoria Lorentzom/Tessa Wachtel |
So./Fr. |
Doubles |
Marist |
| Caroline Schulson/Isabella Sicignano |
Jr./So. |
Doubles |
Quinnipiac |
| All-MAAC Third Team |
| Player |
Class |
Position |
School |
| Maria Gell |
So. |
Singles |
Fairfield |
| Yasmin Asnis |
Fr. |
Singles |
Marist |
| Venus Tang |
So. |
Singles |
Mount St. Mary's |
| Margherita Trolese |
Jr. |
Singles |
Mount St. Mary's |
| Savita Bagirathan |
FY. |
Singles |
Sacred Heart |
| Madeline De Faber-Schumacher |
Sr. |
Singles |
Siena |
*Denote Unanimous Selection
The 2026 MAAC Men's & Women's Tennis Championships are a four-team, single-elimination championships taking place on April 24-26 at Princeton University Racquet and Fieldhouse in Princeton, NJ. For all information regarding the 2026 MAAC Men's & Women’s Tennis Championships, please visit
maacsports.com/tennis.
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 13 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 45th year of competition during the 2025-26 academic year. Current conference members include: Canisius University, Fairfield University, Iona University, Manhattan University, Marist University, Merrimack College, Mount St. Mary’s University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Sacred Heart University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena University.
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