Louisiana Tech Athletic Communications
After guiding the Louisiana Tech women’s tennis program to a historic season, head coach Amanda Stone was named the 2023 Conference USA Women’s Tennis Coach of the Year in a vote by the league coaches.
Stone became the first head coach in the program’s 47-year history to earn conference coach of the year honors.
Stone was joined by Leonie Schuknecht and Olga Bienzobas who earned All-Conference USA honors in singles while the duo of Bienzobas and Alexia Romero received All-Conference USA honors in doubles.
The seventh-year head coach led LA Tech to arguably its greatest season in program history. The Lady Techsters finished the spring with a 20-6 record, the second most wins ever and the second most wins in C-USA. Included in that were victories over Mountain West champion Wyoming and South Florida, both of whom are currently nationally ranked.
LA Tech is currently ranked No. 73 in the country in the ITA Collegiate Tennis team rankings, having been ranked for a program-record four consecutive weeks. Their debut in the national rankings came on April 4 when they entered at No. 64, their highest ranking ever.
The Lady Techsters made more history by finishing fourth in C-USA as well as advancing to the C-USA Championship semifinals for the first time ever after a 4-0 shutout against Florida Atlantic.
Schuknecht was named First Team All-Conference USA after putting together a 2022-23 singles record of 24-5. She was a two-time C-USA Athlete of the Month recipient in the fall and a two-time C-USA Athlete of the Week recipient in the spring (most honors of any C-USA player this season).
The junior registered a 16-3 dual singles mark, playing every match from the No. 1 position. Her .842 winning percentage was the highest of any C-USA player at the top singles spot. She opened the spring with a nine-match winning streak, including victories over current ranked teams in Wyoming, Tulsa, and USF.
Bienzobas was named Second Team All-Conference USA after recording a 2022-23 singles record of 22-11, the second most victories on the squad. The junior posted a 14-7 dual singles record in the spring, playing primarily from the No. 2 position. She won eight of her last nine matches, including dominant victories over C-USA foes in UAB (6-2, 6-2) and UTEP (6-0, 6-2).
It marked the first time since 2017 that LA Tech has had multiple singles players receive All-Conference USA honors.
The San Sebastian, Spain native was also named Second Team All-Conference USA in doubles along with her partner Alexia Romero. The duo teamed up for the first time this spring on March 18, playing a total of 10 dual matches together (nine completed).
The tandem ended up registering a 7-2 record, playing every match from the No. 2 position. They closed the season on a six-match winning streak, going a perfect 3-0 during the regular season against C-USA opponents – defeated UAB (7-5), UTEP 6-2), and Charlotte (6-3). They also took down the 75th-ranked ranked doubles team in the country in the C-USA Tournament semifinals, defeating FIU (7-6).
Bienzobas/Romero became just the third LA Tech doubles team ever to receive all-conference honors (first since 2016).
For all the latest in LA Tech Tennis, follow them on Twitter (@LATechTennis), Instagram (@LATechTennis), and Facebook (LATechTennis).
2023 C-USA Women’s Tennis All-Conference Winners
Player of the Year
Oyinlomo Quadre, FIU
Freshman of the Year
Oyinlomo Quadre, FIU
Newcomer of the Year
Salma Loudili, FIU
Singles Player of the Championship
Yasmine Kabbaj, FIU
Doubles Team of the Championship
Ekaterina Khairutdinova/Kamila Umarova, FIU
Coach of the Year
Amanda Stone, Louisiana Tech
All-Conference USA Singles First Team
Lucia Quiterio, Charlotte
Lucie Petuzelova, Charlotte
Oyinlomo Quadre, FIU
Yasmine Kabbaj, FIU
Leonie Schuknecht, Louisiana Tech
Allison Zipoli, Rice
Federica Trevisan, Rice
Aleksandra Zlatarova, UTSA
All-Conference USA Singles Second Team
Ruxi Schech, Charlotte
Margaux Maquet, Charlotte
Salma Loudili, FIU
Katerina Mandelikova, FIU
Martina Kudelova, FAU
Olga Bienzobas, Louisiana Tech
Love-Star Alexis, Middle Tennessee
Matilde Morais, North Texas
All-Conference USA Doubles First Team
Margaux Maquet/Lucia Quiterio, Charlotte
Ekaterina Khairutdinova/Kamila Umarova, FIU
Yasmine Kabbaj/Oyinlomo Quadre, FIU
Diae El Jardi/Allison Zipoli, Rice
All-Conference USA Doubles Second Team
Ruxi Schech/Kaavya Sawhney, Charlotte
Salma Loudili/Katerina Mandelikova, FIU
Alexia Romero/Olga Bienzobas, Louisiana Tech
Jasmine Adams/Matilde Morais, North Texas
C-USA All-Freshman Team
Lucia Aranda, Charlotte
Oyinlomo Quadre, FIU
Ekaterina Khairutdinova, FIU
Katerina Mandelikova, FIU
Matilde Morais, North Texas
Darya Schwartzman, Rice
