TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - The Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) released the 2023 All-PAC Women’s Tennis teams and yearly award winners Thursday afternoon. 

The all-conference teams, along with this year’s annual award winners and sportsmanship team selections, were decided by a vote of the league’s nine head coaches.

For the third consecutive season, Franciscan University senior Maria Herrera (Houston, Texas/Clear Brook) was voted as the PAC Player of the Year. The PAC Newcomer of the Year Award was earned by Grove City College freshman Catherine Petrovich (Fox Chapel, Pa./IMG Academy-Fla.) and PAC Coach of the Year honors went to Grove City head coach Nate Horner.

Herrera is the first player to win three consecutive PAC Player of the Year awards since Grove City's Alyssa Bradford won it four straight years from 1998-2001. She posted a 15-3 record at No. 1 singles during the season, including an 8-0 PAC mark in the regular season. Herrera also teamed with three different partners in doubles competition through the year for a combined 13-1 record, highlighted by an unblemished 8-0 record in PAC matches.

Herrera will finish her Franciscan career as the all-time winningest player. In the Sept. 29th match against Geneva College, her singles win propelled her to #1 all-time in combined (singles and doubles) wins at Franciscan with 94. She then eclipsed 100 career wins in the Oct. 15th match against Waynesburg University and her singles victory that day completed a three-year undefeated run in PAC regular season play.

Petrovich is the first Grove City player to earn PAC Newcomer of the Year after she went 9-2 in singles, including 4-1 in PAC matches. She also teamed with junior Alyssa Good (Wapakoneta, Ohio/Wapakoneta) for an identical 9-2 overall mark at second doubles and 4-1 record in PAC matches.

After helping lead the Wolverines to the PAC Championship, Petrovich was chosen as the Tournament's Most Outstanding Player. She posted a 3-1 combined record in the two tournament victories, including straight-set wins at No. 1 singles against Franciscan in the semifinals and Allegheny College in the finals.

Now in his fourth year as the Grove City tennis coach, Horner guided the Wolverines to their first PAC crown since 2018. Entering the PAC Tournament as the second seed, Grove City bested #3 Franciscan 5-2 in the semifinals and #1 Allegheny 5-2 in the finals to capture the title for the Wolverines' PAC-high 31st women's tennis championship.

As this year's tournament champion, Grove City secured the PAC's automatic qualifying bid to the Division III Championships. Team selections will be announced Monday, April 29, 2024. The first round of the NCAA Division III Championships is scheduled for Friday, May 3.


2023 All-PAC Women's Tennis
Award Winners
PAC Player of the Year: Franciscan senior Maria Herrera (Houston, Texas/Clear Brook)
PAC Newcomer of the Year: Grove City freshman Catherine Petrovich (Fox Chapel, Pa./IMG Academy-Fla.)
PAC Coach of the Year: Grove City head coach Nate Horner
 

All-PAC First Team
Singles
Pos.	Name	School	Yr.	Hometown/High School
2S	Emiliia Grydnieva	Allegheny	Fr.	Kyiv, Ukraine/Optima
1S	Jean-Arlette Legrand	Allegheny	Sr.	San Juan, Puerto Rico/Commonwealth Parkville School
2S	Olivia Colby	Franciscan	Jr.	Merrimac, Mass./Pentucket Regional Senior
1S	Maria Herrera	Franciscan	Sr.	Houston, Texas/Clear Brook
1S	Catherine Petrovich	Grove City	Fr.	Fox Chapel, Pa./IMG Academy-Fla.
1S	Carolina Walters	Saint Vincent	So.	Latrobe, Pa./Homeschooled
1S	Nidhi Pulicherla	W&J	Jr.	Chandler, Ariz./Hamilton
1S	Gia Francisco	Westminster	Jr.	Canfield, Ohio/Canfield
Doubles
Pos.	Name	School	Yr.	Hometown/High School
1D	Olivia Colby	Franciscan	Jr.	Merrimac, Mass./Pentucket Regional
	Maria Herrera	Franciscan	Sr.	Houston, Texas/Clear Brook
1D	Emily Ivory	Grove City	Jr.	Gibsonia, Pa./Mars
	Janel McCray	Grove City	Jr.	Jessup, Md./Hammond
2D	Catherine Petrovich	Grove City	Fr.	Fox Chapel, Pa./IMG Academy-Fla.
	Alyssa Good	Grove City	Jr.	Wapakoneta, Ohio/Wapakoneta
1D	Gia Francisco	Westminster	Jr.	Canfield, Ohio/Canfield
	Christine Rossi	Westminster	So.	Jefferson Hills, Pa./Thomas Jefferson

All-PAC Second Team
Singles
Pos.	Name	School	Yr.	Hometown/High School
4S	Rei Etsumi	Allegheny	Fr.	Honolulu, Hawaii/President William McKinley
5S	Noelle Kidd	Allegheny	Sr.	Broadview Heights, Ohio/North Royalton
3S	Claire Cardie	Franciscan	So.	Dublin, Pa./Archbishop Wood
1S	Lauren Estes	Geneva	So.	Chattanooga, Tenn./Grace Baptist Academy
4S	Emily Ivory	Grove City	Jr.	Gibsonia, Pa./Mars
6S	Janel McCray	Grove City	Jr.	Jessup, Md./Hammond
5S	Emma Overlingas	Westminster	Fr.	Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin
2S	Christine Rossi	Westminster	So.	Jefferson Hills, Pa./Thomas Jefferson
Doubles
Pos.	Name	School	Yr.	Hometown/High School
1D	Allison Riley	Allegheny	Sr.	Twinsburg, Ohio/Twinsburg
	Sabrina Rodriguez	Allegheny	Jr.	Kissimmee, Fla./Professional and Technical
2D	Jean-Arlette Legrand	Allegheny	Sr.	San Juan, Puerto Rico/Commonwealth Parkville School
	Maria Lounder	Allegheny	So.	Pittsburgh, Pa./Moon Area
3D	Rei Etsumi	Allegheny	Fr.	Honolulu, Hawaii/President William McKinley
	Emiliia Grydnieva	Allegheny	Fr.	Kyiv, Ukraine/Optima
2D	Claire Cardie	Franciscan	So.	Dublin, Pa./Archbishop Wood
	Veronica Saunders	Franciscan	So.	Mukwonago, Wisc./Kolbe Academy
1D	Riley Moore	W&J	Fr.	Logan, W.Va./Logan
	Nidhi Pulicherla	W&J	Jr.	Chandler, Ariz./Hamilton
3D	Taylor Dlugozima	Westminster	Jr.	Volant, Pa./Wilmington
	Emma Overlingas	Westminster	Fr.	Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin

All-PAC Honorable Mention
Singles
Pos.	Name	School	Yr.	Hometown | High School
4S	Jordan Beltavski	Franciscan	Fr.	Chardon, Ohio/North Royalton
6S	Ella Miller	Geneva	Sr.	Freedom, Pa./Ambridge
2S	Delaney Winterhalter	Geneva	Jr.	Carnegie, Pa./South Fayette
2S	Lexi Chappel	Grove City	Sr.	Prospect, Pa./Butler
5S	Alyssa Good	Grove City	Jr.	Wapakoneta, Ohio/Wapakoneta
3S	Peyton Joines	Grove City	Fr.	Glen Rock, Pa./Susquehannock
5S	Marisa Hooper	Saint Vincent	So.	Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle
1S	Toby Atwood	Thiel	So.	Kittanning, Pa./Armstrong
5S	Lisha Chadda	W&J	Sr.	Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Eastern
6S	Grace Askey	Westminster	So.	Dubois, Pa./Jeff Tech
4S	Caroline Fox	Westminster	Sr.	Acton, Calif./Vasquez
Doubles
Pos.	Name	School	Yr.	Hometown | High School
3D	Jordan Beltavski	Franciscan	Fr.	Chardon, Ohio/North Royalton
	Delaney Dawson	Franciscan	So.	Lima, Ohio/Lima Shawnee
1D	Lauren Estes	Geneva	So.	Chattanooga, Tenn./Grace Baptist Academy
	Delaney Winterhalter	Geneva	Jr.	Carnegie, Pa./South Fayette
3D	Courtney DeCarlo	Grove City	So.	Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Cuyahoga Valley Christian
	Peyton Joines	Grove City	Fr.	Glen Rock, Pa./Susquehannock
1D	Carolina Walters	Saint Vincent	So.	Latrobe, Pa./Homeschooled
	Rachel Zgurich	Saint Vincent	Fr.	Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin
3D	Abby Donnelly	Saint Vincent	Jr.	Washington, Pa./McGuffey
	Lydia Lieb	Saint Vincent	Jr.	Dysart, Pa./Hollidaysburg
2D	Caroline Fox	Westminster	Sr.	Acton, Calif./Vasquez
	Ryleigh Valone	Westminster	Jr.	Erie, Pa./Villa Maria Academy

PAC Sportsmanship Team
The PAC Sportsmanship Teams were established to recognize student-athletes who have distinguished themselves through demonstrated acts of   sportsmanship and ethical behavior and are an ongoing effort to recognize and encourage positive sportsmanship among all PAC teams and student-  athletes.
Name	School	Yr.	Hometown | High School
Noelle Kidd	Allegheny	Sr.	Broadview Heights, Ohio/North Royalton
Claire Cardie	Franciscan	So.	Chardon, Ohio/North Royalton
Ella Miller	Geneva	Sr.	Freedom, Pa./Ambridge
Kelsey Coleman	Grove City	Sr.	Findlay, Ohio/Findlay
Marisa Hooper	Saint Vincent	So.	Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle
Payton Blankenbeckley	Thiel	Sr.	Portsmouth, Ohio/Minford
Nidhi Pulicherla	W&J	Jr.	Chandler, Ariz./Hamilton
Karley Starcher	Waynesburg	Fr.	Williamston, W.Va./St. Mary's
Ryleigh Valone	Westminster	Jr.	Erie, Pa./Villa Maria Academy