GREENVILLE, S.C.– The Conference Carolinas office released the 2026 women's tennis preseason poll Friday morning, with Chowan University among the 14 institutions represented in the conference.
Chowan was selected 10th in the preseason rankings as the Hawks prepare to open spring play in late February. Players to watch this season include senior Feidi Abreu Rodriguez from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; sophomore Aime Vera from Santa Fe, Argentinia; and sophomore Isabella Turner from Colerain, North Carolina.
The Bobcats won both the regular season and tournament titles a season ago and have won at least a share of the regular season title each of the last two years while Erskine won a share of the regular season crown and the tournament title in 2024. Both programs received 160 points in the poll with Lees-McRae receiving seven first place votes and Erskine taking five first place votes.
Belmont Abbey College received the final two first place votes and 130 points to land in the third slot. The University of Mount Olive came in fourth with 128 points and Francis Marion University rounded out the top five with 116 points.
Barton College (111), Young Harris College (104), Converse University (90), North Greenville University (74), Chowan University (61), Emmanuel University (57), Shorter University (36), King University (30), and Ferrum College (17) completed the poll.
The 2026 Conference Carolinas Women's Tennis Championship is scheduled to take place from Wednesday, April 22-Saturday, April 25 at the Palmetto Tennis Center in Sumter, South Carolina.
The preseason poll was voted on by the league's head coaches and they can't vote for their own school.
2026 Conference Carolinas
Women's Tennis Preseason Poll
|
Coaches |
Votes (first place) |
| 1 |
Lees-McRae |
160 (7) |
| 2 |
Erskine |
160 (5) |
| 3 |
Belmont Abbey |
130 (2) |
| 4 |
Mount Olive |
128 |
| 5 |
Francis Marion |
116 |
| 6 |
Barton |
111 |
| 7 |
Young Harris |
104 |
| 8 |
Converse |
90 |
| 9 |
North Greenville |
74 |
| 10 |
Chowan |
61 |
| 11 |
Emmanuel |
57 |
| 12 |
Shorter |
36 |
| 13 |
King |
30 |
| 14 |
Ferrum |
17 |
2026 Conference Carolinas Women's Tennis
Players to Watch
Barton
- Irma Granstam, Sr., Linkoping, Sweden
- Alexandra Saez Lozano, Sr. Begur, Spain
- Aarni Yellu, Jr., Hyderabad, India
Belmont Abbey
- Hanley Riner, Sr., Huntington, West Virginia
- Kaitlin Nguyen, Sr., Lorton, Virginia (2025 third team All-Conference Carolinas)
- Alexis Burkhalter, Sr., Columbus, Ohio
Chowan
- Feidi Abreu Rodriquez, Sr., Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
- Aime Vera, So., Santa Fe, Argentina
- Isabella Turner, So., Colerain, North Carolina
Converse
- Khushi Kharb, Sr., Sonipat, Haryana, India (2024 & 2025 first team All-Conference Carolinas, 2023 second team All-Conference Carolinas)
- Lais Martins, Sr., Florianopolis, Brazil
- Laurel Maynor, Sr., Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina
Emmanuel
- Tawana Senah. Jr., Ipswich, England
- Anhelina Zmushko, Fr., Khatiogino, Belarus
- Anna Goncalves, Sr., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Erskine
- Hanna Vasconez, Sr., Riobamba, Ecuador
- Valeria Guerrero, Jr., Guayaquil, Ecuador
- Ariana Jativa, Sr., Guayaquil, Ecuador
Ferrum
- Stephanie Porras, Fr., Caracas, Venezuela
- Olivia Einsenman, Fr., Perryman, Texas
- Madison Cox, Fr., Rocky Mount, Virginia
Francis Marion
- Lara Lanno, So., Pforzheim, Germany (2025 third team All-Conference Carolinas)
- Magdalena Skachova, Jr., Bustehrad, Czech Republic
- Janka Juhász, Fr., Mogyoród, Hungary
King
- Deniz Aytun, Grad., Talavera de la Reina, Spain
- Shellby Tranchita, Fr., Perth, Australia
- Rani Malhoe, Grad., Delft, Netherlands
Lees-McRae
- Pati Vedia Sanchez, Sr., Madrid, Spain (2025 Conference Carolinas Championship MVP and all-tournament team, 2025 Conference Carolinas Player of the Year, 2025 first team All-Conference Carolinas)
- Lina Saqout, Sr., Casablanca, Morocco (2025 first team Conference Carolinas)
- Alexa Mazzei, So., Caracas, Venezuela
Mount Olive
- Nina Bernier, So., Sainte-Rose, Guadeloupe (2025 third team All-Conference Carolinas)
- Victoria Calle, Jr., Tarragona, Spain
- Simone Szovan, Jr., Sneek, Netherlands
North Greenville
- Julia Machado, Fr., Brazil
- Abigail Watson, Jr.,
- Andjela Mrvaljevic, Jr., Montenegro
Shorter
- Sharick Guiza Hernandez, Jr., Bogota, Colombia
- Danielle Hernandez, So., Rome, Georgia
- Laura Martín, So., Granada, Spain
Young Harris
- Maud Scholten, So., Den Bosch, Netherlands, (2025 Conference Carolinas Freshman of the Year and third team all-conference)
- Futaba Saito, Jr., Chita, Japan, (2025 first team All-Conference Carolinas)
- Viviana Gomez, Jr., Guadalajara, Mexico
