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2022-23 Big Ten Conference Women’s Tennis Awards Announced
ROSEMONT, Ill. (April 26, 2023) – The Big Ten Conference revealed the 2022-23 all-conference women’s tennis teams and individual award recipients on Wednesday afternoon. This year’s honorees were selected through a vote by the Big Ten’s 14 head coaches.
Ohio State senior Irina Cantos Siemers earned the Big Ten Athlete of the Year award, while Michigan earned a pair of honors — Lily Jones was named Freshman of the Year and Ronni Bernstein collected the Coach of the Year accolade.
This marks the sixth time an Ohio State player has earned Big Ten Athlete of the Year plaudits and the fourth time in eight seasons. Shiori Fukuda was the most recent Buckeye to capture the award in 2020.
A native of Brussels, Belgium, Cantos Siemers has posted a 20-9 singles record (13-4 in dual matches) this season, including an 11-9 mark against nationally ranked opponents. She also went 6-0 in singles play during the Big Ten season, with four other matches going unfinished (she was leading in three of those four). Cantos Siemers is ranked No. 20 in the latest ITA (Intercollegiate Tennis Association) singles rankings, the highest of any Big Ten player this week. She and teammate Sydni Ratliff are also 33rd in the latest doubles rankings.
Cantos Siemers and Ratliff were also two of five unanimous selections to the 15-player All-Big Ten Team, which was expanded by one student-athlete due to a tie in the voting. Other unanimous honorees included Michigan’s Jaedan Brown and Kari Miller, and Wisconsin’s Ava Markham.
Nine Big Ten programs were represented on this year’s All-Big Ten Women’s Tennis Team. Michigan led the way with three selections, while Illinois, Northwestern, Ohio State and Wisconsin all had two recipients. Indiana, Iowa, Penn State and Purdue each had one honoree.
Jones is originally from Grosse Pointe, Michigan, and has posted a 25-6 singles record (12-3 in dual matches), tying for the team lead in overall singles victories. During Big Ten play, she went 8-0 in singles (and led in two of the three unfinished matches) and 8-2 in doubles, and she is No. 77 in the latest ITA singles rankings. Jones is the seventh Michigan player chosen as Big Ten Freshman of the Year, but the first in a decade (Ronit Yurovsky in 2013).
Bernstein is no stranger to the Big Ten Coach of the Year award, earning it for the eighth time in her 16 seasons at Michigan, and the third time in the past four completed seasons (2019, 2022, 2023; no honor was presented in 2020). This year, Bernstein has led the Wolverines to a 19-3 record, including a perfect 11-0 conference mark and the program’s 11th Big Ten title (10th under Bernstein’s guidance). Ranked No. 5 nationally according to the ITA, Michigan is the top seed for this week’s Big Ten Tournament, seeking its sixth championship and fourth in the past five completed seasons.
Along with the all-conference women’s tennis teams and individual awards, the Big Ten also recognized 14 Sportsmanship Award honorees. These student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. They must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.
The 2023 Big Ten Women’s Tennis Tournament opens Wednesday and continues through Sunday at the Schwartz Tennis Center on the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Every match of this year’s Big Ten Tournament will be streamed live on B1G+, with further details available at bigtenplus.com. For more information on the 2023 Big Ten Women’s Tennis Tournament, visit the official tournament web site at bigten.org/WTEN.
The complete list of 2022-23 Big Ten women’s tennis honors is as follows:
2022-23 BIG TEN WOMEN’S TENNIS
ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS AND INDIVIDUAL HONORS
Athlete of the Year: Irina Cantos Siemers, Sr., Ohio State
Freshman of the Year: Lily Jones, Michigan
Coach of the Year: Ronni Bernstein, Michigan
All-Big Ten Team*
Kate Duong, Jr., Illinois
Ashley Yeah, Sr., Illinois
Lara Schneider, RS-So., Indiana
Samantha Mannix, 5th-Yr., Iowa
JAEDAN BROWN, Jr., Michigan
Julia Fliegner, So., Michigan
KARI MILLER, Jr., Michigan
Justine Leong, So., Northwestern
Maria Shusharina, Jr., Northwestern
IRINA CANTOS SIEMERS, Sr., Ohio State
SYDNI RATLIFF, So., Ohio State
Sofiya Chekhlystova, Jr., Penn State
Liz Norman, RS-Sr., Purdue
AVA MARKHAM, Sr., Wisconsin
Maria Sholokhova, Fr., Wisconsin
Sportsmanship Award Honorees
Kasia Treiber, Illinois
Nicole Teodosescu, Indiana
Vipasha Mehra, Iowa
Hannah McColgan, Maryland
Lily Jones, Michigan
Dagmar Zdrubecka, Michigan State
Zoey Weil, Minnesota
Jillian Roa, Nebraska
Kiley Rabjohns, Northwestern
Shelly Bereznyak, Ohio State
Carla Girbau, Penn State
Juana Larranaga, Purdue
Amira Badawi, Rutgers
Ava Markham, Wisconsin
Unanimous selections in ALL CAPS; * - additional player due to tie in voting
Big Ten Conference (bigten.org) is an association of world-class universities whose member institutions share a common mission of research, graduate, professional and undergraduate teaching, and public service. Founded in 1896, Big Ten Conference has sustained a comprehensive set of shared practices and policies that enforce the priority of academics in the lives of students competing in intercollegiate athletics and emphasize the values of integrity, fairness, and competitiveness. The broad-based programs of the 14 Big Ten Conference institutions will provide over $200 million in direct financial support to more than 9,800 students for more than 11,000 participation opportunities on 350 teams in 42 different sports. Big Ten Conference sponsors 28 official conference sports, 14 for men and 14 for women, including the addition of men’s ice hockey and men’s and women’s lacrosse since 2013.
Ohio State senior Irina Cantos Siemers earned the Big Ten Athlete of the Year award, while Michigan earned a pair of honors — Lily Jones was named Freshman of the Year and Ronni Bernstein collected the Coach of the Year accolade.
This marks the sixth time an Ohio State player has earned Big Ten Athlete of the Year plaudits and the fourth time in eight seasons. Shiori Fukuda was the most recent Buckeye to capture the award in 2020.
A native of Brussels, Belgium, Cantos Siemers has posted a 20-9 singles record (13-4 in dual matches) this season, including an 11-9 mark against nationally ranked opponents. She also went 6-0 in singles play during the Big Ten season, with four other matches going unfinished (she was leading in three of those four). Cantos Siemers is ranked No. 20 in the latest ITA (Intercollegiate Tennis Association) singles rankings, the highest of any Big Ten player this week. She and teammate Sydni Ratliff are also 33rd in the latest doubles rankings.
Cantos Siemers and Ratliff were also two of five unanimous selections to the 15-player All-Big Ten Team, which was expanded by one student-athlete due to a tie in the voting. Other unanimous honorees included Michigan’s Jaedan Brown and Kari Miller, and Wisconsin’s Ava Markham.
Nine Big Ten programs were represented on this year’s All-Big Ten Women’s Tennis Team. Michigan led the way with three selections, while Illinois, Northwestern, Ohio State and Wisconsin all had two recipients. Indiana, Iowa, Penn State and Purdue each had one honoree.
Jones is originally from Grosse Pointe, Michigan, and has posted a 25-6 singles record (12-3 in dual matches), tying for the team lead in overall singles victories. During Big Ten play, she went 8-0 in singles (and led in two of the three unfinished matches) and 8-2 in doubles, and she is No. 77 in the latest ITA singles rankings. Jones is the seventh Michigan player chosen as Big Ten Freshman of the Year, but the first in a decade (Ronit Yurovsky in 2013).
Bernstein is no stranger to the Big Ten Coach of the Year award, earning it for the eighth time in her 16 seasons at Michigan, and the third time in the past four completed seasons (2019, 2022, 2023; no honor was presented in 2020). This year, Bernstein has led the Wolverines to a 19-3 record, including a perfect 11-0 conference mark and the program’s 11th Big Ten title (10th under Bernstein’s guidance). Ranked No. 5 nationally according to the ITA, Michigan is the top seed for this week’s Big Ten Tournament, seeking its sixth championship and fourth in the past five completed seasons.
Along with the all-conference women’s tennis teams and individual awards, the Big Ten also recognized 14 Sportsmanship Award honorees. These student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. They must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.
The 2023 Big Ten Women’s Tennis Tournament opens Wednesday and continues through Sunday at the Schwartz Tennis Center on the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Every match of this year’s Big Ten Tournament will be streamed live on B1G+, with further details available at bigtenplus.com. For more information on the 2023 Big Ten Women’s Tennis Tournament, visit the official tournament web site at bigten.org/WTEN.
The complete list of 2022-23 Big Ten women’s tennis honors is as follows:
2022-23 BIG TEN WOMEN’S TENNIS
ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS AND INDIVIDUAL HONORS
Athlete of the Year: Irina Cantos Siemers, Sr., Ohio State
Freshman of the Year: Lily Jones, Michigan
Coach of the Year: Ronni Bernstein, Michigan
All-Big Ten Team*
Kate Duong, Jr., Illinois
Ashley Yeah, Sr., Illinois
Lara Schneider, RS-So., Indiana
Samantha Mannix, 5th-Yr., Iowa
JAEDAN BROWN, Jr., Michigan
Julia Fliegner, So., Michigan
KARI MILLER, Jr., Michigan
Justine Leong, So., Northwestern
Maria Shusharina, Jr., Northwestern
IRINA CANTOS SIEMERS, Sr., Ohio State
SYDNI RATLIFF, So., Ohio State
Sofiya Chekhlystova, Jr., Penn State
Liz Norman, RS-Sr., Purdue
AVA MARKHAM, Sr., Wisconsin
Maria Sholokhova, Fr., Wisconsin
Sportsmanship Award Honorees
Kasia Treiber, Illinois
Nicole Teodosescu, Indiana
Vipasha Mehra, Iowa
Hannah McColgan, Maryland
Lily Jones, Michigan
Dagmar Zdrubecka, Michigan State
Zoey Weil, Minnesota
Jillian Roa, Nebraska
Kiley Rabjohns, Northwestern
Shelly Bereznyak, Ohio State
Carla Girbau, Penn State
Juana Larranaga, Purdue
Amira Badawi, Rutgers
Ava Markham, Wisconsin
Unanimous selections in ALL CAPS; * - additional player due to tie in voting
Big Ten Conference (bigten.org) is an association of world-class universities whose member institutions share a common mission of research, graduate, professional and undergraduate teaching, and public service. Founded in 1896, Big Ten Conference has sustained a comprehensive set of shared practices and policies that enforce the priority of academics in the lives of students competing in intercollegiate athletics and emphasize the values of integrity, fairness, and competitiveness. The broad-based programs of the 14 Big Ten Conference institutions will provide over $200 million in direct financial support to more than 9,800 students for more than 11,000 participation opportunities on 350 teams in 42 different sports. Big Ten Conference sponsors 28 official conference sports, 14 for men and 14 for women, including the addition of men’s ice hockey and men’s and women’s lacrosse since 2013.