SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Mercer senior Teodora Ristic has been named the Southern Conference women’s tennis player of the week for all matches played from April 11-16, the conference announced on Tuesday. The award is selected by the league office and is the final one of the season.
 
Ristic, a native of Niš, Serbia, went 2-0 at No. 1 singles and 2-0 at No. 1 doubles on the week as the Bears went 1-1.
 
In a 4-3 setback at eventual SoCon regular-season champion Furman on Wednesday, Ristic partnered with Mary Weston Courville to claim a 6-1 win over 71st-ranked Jess Dawson and Sara Snyder at the top doubles position. In singles action, Ristic topped Ellie Schulson at No. 1, prevailing in a third-set tiebreaker for the 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5) win.
 
In Sunday’s 6-1 win at UNCG, Ristic and Courville earned a 6-4 win over Arina Babkova and Alexandra Dodashev in doubles action to clinch the point for the Bears and run their doubles winning streak to seven matches. Ristic then dropped just two games in her singles win over Bobkova, rolling to a 6-2, 6-0 victory.
 
The weekly award is the second of Ristic’s career and second in three weeks. With Courville’s win on April 11, the Bears claimed the final three awards of the season.
 
Fourth-seeded Mercer (12-9, 4-3 SoCon) will take on No. 5 seed Chattanooga (14-7, 3-4) in the quarterfinal round of the SoCon Women’s Tennis Championship on Thursday at 1 p.m. The tournament, which is being played at the Champions Club in Chattanooga, Tennessee, starts Thursday and wraps with a 1 p.m. title match on Saturday.
 
Also nominated: Maria Fernanda Carvajal (ETSU), Luca Victoria Vocke (Furman), Jessie Young (Chattanooga) and Jade Groen (Western Carolina).
 
SoCon Women’s Tennis Players of the Week
Jan. 17          Laylo Bakhodirova, ETSU
Jan. 24          Jessie Young, Chattanooga
Jan. 31          Laylo Bakhodirova, ETSU
Feb. 7            Alexis Lopez, Samford
Feb. 14          Sara Snyder, Furman
Feb. 21          Laylo Bakhodirova, ETSU
Feb. 28          Jade Groen, Western Carolina
March 7         Sara Snyder, Furman
March 14       Alexis Lopez, Samford
March 21       Ralitsa Alexandrova, ETSU
March 28       Laylo Bakhodirova, ETSU
April 4            Teodora Ristic, Mercer
April 11          Mary Weston Courville, Mercer
April 18          Teodora Ristic, Mercer