Women's Tennis Welcomes UAB Sunday to Begin 2024 Campaign

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Following a strong fall season that saw the Bruins earn multiple individual titles, the Belmont University women's tennis team begins its spring championship campaign Sunday afternoon versus the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The Bruins' 2024 opener against the Blazers will see a 1 p.m. first serve from the Ensworth Tennis Center in Nashville.
 
Last season, UAB got past Belmont, 5-2, in a neutral-site affair in Auburn, Alabama. The doubles point was won at No. 3 doubles and the Blazers took four of the six singles matches. Both sophomore Mariia Hlahola and junior Anastasiya Zholdakova were victorious in their singles matches at the No. 1 and No. 3 spots, respectively.
 
In the Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Poll, which was released last week, the Bruins earned a first-place vote and tied for third in the predicted order of finish. Belmont made a run at the 2023 MVC Championship in its first season in the Valley.
 
Among the Bruins' fall highlights, the outstanding duo of Hlahola and Zholdakova repeated as the MVC's No. 1 doubles champions at the conference's individual championships in October. The tandem also reached the quarterfinals of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Ohio Valley Regional Championships and won Belmont's first-ever match at the ITA All-American Championships in Cary, North Carolina.
 
Hlahola won singles titles at the Universal Tennis College Circuit at Belmont in September and the MVC Individual Championships in Springfield, Missouri.
 
In addition to fellow returners Aly Getty (junior), Libbie Hamilton (sophomore), Viktoria Kliimand (junior) and Abi Solomon (junior), the Bruins look for key contributions from freshmen Vesa Gjinaj (Vushtrri, Kosova) and Hana Sokolovic (Zagreb, Croatia) this winter and spring.
 
Up Next
Belmont remains in the Music City and hosts NAIA member Tennessee Wesleyan Friday evening at the Ensworth Tennis Center. First serve is slated for 6 p.m.
 
Follow Belmont women's tennis on social media – @BelmontWTennis on X, formerly Twitter, @belmontwtennis on Instagram and Belmont Women's Tennis on Facebook – for complete coverage of the Bruins. Stay up to date with all of Belmont's athletic programs via the official app of the Belmont Bruins, available both in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.