ROCK HILL, S.C. – The women's tennis program has been selected to finish sixth in the South Atlantic Conference Women's Tennis Preseason Coaches' Poll ahead of the 2026 season. Senior Alexandria Braithwaite (Oakville Ontario, Canada), junior Gigi Sompayrac (Knoxville, Tenn.) and sophomore Ensley Collins (Cleveland, Tenn.) were named Players to Watch.
"Excited to see what the girls can do this spring they have worked hard on and off the court this fall to get ready for the season," head coach Joey Eskridge said. "As a program we have been through some adversity this fall that most teams don't face the entire existence of their programs. God has helped us stay the course and lift each other up in ways I have never seen in my 18 years of coaching here. We truly have a special group of athletes here and I know God has great things in store for us as a program."
The Trojans come into the 2026 season riding the momentum of a perfect fall season. They finished last spring 12-8 and earned a berth in the SAC Championships.
Braithwaite was named to the All-SAC Second Team at the end of the 2025 season while Sompayrac and Collins were also a part of the Trojans' top five.
Braithwaite enters the spring with a 3-1 record in doubles and a 3-2 record in singles from last fall. In the 2024-25 season she went 15-4 overall in singles and 12-5 in doubles.
Sompayrac went 4-2 this fall in singles and 4-1 in doubles. Last season she was 8-8 in singles and 7-9 in doubles.
Collins was undefeated this fall in both singles and doubles. In 2024-25, she was 13-6 in singles and 7-3 in doubles.
The Trojans open the 2026 spring season on Feb. 5 when they host USC Sumter at 2 p.m.
2026 SAC Women's Tennis Preseason Coaches' Poll
Rank School (first place votes) Points
1. Catawba (10) 131
2. Wingate (2) 122
3. Carson-Newman 108
4. Newberry 98
5. Coker 84
6. Anderson 79
7. Lincoln Memorial 77
8. Lenoir-Rhyne 70
9t. UVA Wise 48
9t. Tusculum 48
11. Emory & Henry 34
12. Mars Hill 25
2026 SAC Women's Tennis Preseason Players to Watch
Anderson: Gigi Sompayrac, Alexandria Braithwaite, Ensley Collins
Catawba: Ami Miya, Sofia Antolini, Hanna Bougouffa
Carson-Newman: Maria del Mar Sarda Marti, Kira Baacke, Hala Awad
Coker: Ilona Hernandez-Sanchez, Salome Sierra, Noelle D'Angelillo
Emory & Henry: Ellyson Kovacs, Tahnne Sesma, Olivia Pursley
Lenoir-Rhyne: Runa Muderrisoglu, Nellie Wahlberg, Mehetia Boosie
Lincoln Memorial: Rosalie Carrier-Dulac, Adriana Pellizzari , Alexandra Ortiz
Mars Hill: Charne Mulder, Shakti Mishra, Versha Yadav
Newberry: Aina Miralles, Yui Suzuki, Lina Sarhan
Tusculum: Emma Kotzmannova, Ylva Frafjord Landa, Ginevra Moreno Villa
UVA Wise: Kenzy Abdelaal, Constança Azinhaga, Andreea Onitoiu
Wingate: Fernanda Castillo, Claudia Vallejos , Anastasia Oktiabreva
