MELBOURNE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern women’s tennis team (9-2) laid claim on Thursday to two of the three key Sunshine State Conference awards and five Sharks appear on the All-Conference teams, officials from the SSC announced. Head coach Doug Neagle was named Coach of the Year for the second straight opportunity and second-year sophomore Natalie Espinal garnered Athlete of the Year. In addition, Karolina Snita, Daniela Obando, Chantal Nosievici, and Isabella Lowrey joined Espinal in the all-SSC accolades.
It has been a short, but fruitful 2021 season for NSU women’s tennis. The Sharks rank third in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) standings. NSU finished Runner-up in the SSC championships. And finally, the squad is headed this week to their second consecutive NCAA postseason. For these accomplishments, Neagle was voted by his peer coaches to repeat as SSC Coach of the Year in 2021. With the Sharks posting a 9-2 record in the limited season, NSU has gone 44-8 during a massive program surge over the past three seasons under Neagle.
“I couldn’t be happier for all of our players who earned All-SSC honors,” Neagle said. “It’s a total team effort and everyone played a role in these honors. The awards are voted on by the SSC coaches, making it more special with so many Sharks recognized. Natalie Espinal winning Athlete of the Year is such a deserving award for her. She is the most humble person, a great teammate and a great person. Lastly, it is humbling for me to be named SSC Coach of the Year. We have quite a few great coaches in this conference that are deserving of winning this award, so I thank my peers for voting for me. I need to truly thank my players, because they are the ones competing and the credit is theirs.”
Becoming the second Shark to win Athlete of the Year in women’s tennis (Luicelena Perez-2017), Espinal (Tegucigalpa, Honduras) is currently ranked No. 10 in the ITA’s Division II Collegiate Singles Rankings and sports an 8-3 first-court singles record. In addition to her singles play, Espinal is a combined 7-4 at No. 1 doubles with partners Chantal Nosievici (6-5) and Isabella Lowrey (1-0). In 2019 during the last prior awards from the SSC, Espinal was named SSC Freshman of the Year.
Joining Espinal on the first team as her doubles partner, Nosievici (Cologne, Germany) went 6-4, the first-court tandem taking on five nationally-ranked pairs. They currently rank at No. 2 in the ITA’s Division II Collegiate Doubles Rankings. Nosievici also appears on the All-SSC singles second team with a 7-1 record on the year, playing largely on court four.
Also appearing on first-team singles, 2019 All-American Karolina Snita (Glogow, Poland) ranks No. 17 in the ITA standings and has delivered a commanding 8-1 mark on the season at No. 2 singles.
Earning a spot on the All-SSC teams for the third year in her career, Daniela Obando (Tegucigalpa, Honduras) ranks No. 19 in the ITA and is on the second team with a 7-1 record at No. 3 singles. She also joins partner Isabella Lowrey (Miami, Fla.) on second team doubles with a 6-1 record at No. 2 doubles. Obando will wrap up her career with a collection of five career All-SSC accolades.
The Sharks enter the NCAA postseason on Friday with a South Regional matchup against Saint Leo at 2:00 p.m. CT (3:00 p.m. ET) at West Florida’s Ralph “Skeeter” Carson Tennis Complex in Pensacola. The UWF hosts will provide live stats and streaming video, which can be found on the NSUSharks.com women’s tennis schedule page.
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