NEW YORK -- The BIG EAST announced the 2021 All-Conference Women’s Tennis honors on Thursday along with the regular season awards. DePaul’s Aspasia Avgeri was voted BIG EAST Women’s Tennis Player of the Year. Xavier redshirt freshman Anna Roggenburk was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Year and the Xavier staff, led by head coach Doug Matthews, earned Coaching Staff of the Year honors.
Avgeri, a unanimous selection for the All-BIG EAST First Team, became the third Blue Demon to earn BIG EAST Player of the Year accolades, joining Patricia Fargas in 2014 and Yuliya Shupenia in 2015. The grad student helped DePaul to a runner-up finish at the 2021 BIG EAST Championship Presented by JEEP in Cayce, S.C. Avgeri, an Athens, Greece, native finished her season and collegiate career winning 10 of her final 11 matches. She played the No. 1 singles flight for the Blue Demons and paired with Maddie Yergler in doubles to go a team-best 11-4 on the year. Her most notable singles win came on April 9 in Cincinnati with a 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) triumph over Xavier’s nationally ranked No. 1 player Ahmeir Kyle. Overall, Avgeri finished with a 5-1 record against BIG EAST opponents including the postseason.
Roggenburk, also a unanimous vote to the All-BIG EAST First Team, was the Most Outstanding Player of the Women’s Tennis Championship last week after going 4-0, leading the Musketeers to their second BIG EAST Championship title. The redshirt freshman picked up wins in straight sets in the No. 2 spot in the semifinal against St. John's and in the No. 3 spot against DePaul. Roggenburk, combined with Imani Graham, also helped clinch the doubles point in the matches against Marquette and St. John's. During the season, she finished 15-3 overall, 3-0 at the No. 1 spot, 5-1 at No. 2 and 7-2 in the third flight. She went undefeated against fellow BIG EAST opponents in singles and doubles play. Going into the NCAA Championship, where Xavier will represent the BIG EAST as the automatic qualifier, Roggenburk is riding a seven-match winning streak.
Matthews led his Xavier Musketeers to their second title since joining the league in 2014. Xavier went 17-3 overall this season with a 3-0 record over fellow BIG EAST teams (DePaul, Butler and Marquette). Matthews is assisted by Associate head coach Eric West, assistant coach Ryan Rasco and volunteer assistant Hailey Shannahan. Matthews, a Xavier tennis standout from the 2005-09, served as an assistant coach for four years for the Xavier tennis program and spent the 2009-10 season working as a volunteer assistant. Matthews took over the Xavier program prior to the 2015 season. The Xavier coaching staff also earned BIG EAST honors in 2016.
The ballots were cast by the league’s head coaches who could not vote for their own teams. The All-BIG EAST women’s tennis all-conference teams are made up of six at-large selections each. Coaches could not vote for their own players. See below for the full listing.
BIG EAST Women’s Tennis Player of the Year
Aspasia Avgeri, DePaul, Sr.
BIG EAST Women’s Tennis Freshman of the Year
Anna Roggenburk, Xavier, RS-Fr.
BIG EAST Women’s Tennis Coaching Staff of the Year
Xavier
All-BIG EAST First Team
(listed alphabetically)
Aspasia Avgeri, DePaul ^
Natalie Boesing, Butler
Annalise Klopfer, Villanova ^
Ahmeir Kyle, Xavier ^
Jessica Livianu, St. John’s ^
Anna Roggenburk, Xavier ^
All-BIG EAST Second Team
(listed alphabetically)
Julianne Bou, Connecticut
Lexi DeNucci, Villanova
Yuliya Kizelbasheva, DePaul
Kate Krueger, Creighton
Alina Kuzmenkova, DePaul
Kat Lyman, Xavier
^ denotes unanimous selection