By Ryne Rickman, UT Martin Sports Information Director
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – The 2022-23 academic year marked the 75th anniversary of the Ohio Valley Conference, which began in 1948 and currently ranks as the eighth-oldest NCAA Division I conference.
As part of the celebration of the storied accomplishments of the league, a committee working in conjunction with current and former schools captured the “best-of-the-best” in each sport and celebrate the top athletes in league history with the 75th Anniversary Teams across all OVC sports. A similar listing was compiled during the 40th and 50th anniversaries of the league.
UT Martin landed eight total honorees (seven student-athletes and one coach) on the OVC 75th Anniversary Team for the sport of women’s tennis, including five members of the UT Martin Athletics Hall of Fame.
Sarah Candeloro (2013-17)
Candeloro was a three-time All-OVC recipient, garnering first team honors in each of her final two seasons. The Dover, Del. native captured OVC Player of the Week accolades three times in her storied career, including a pair of awards during her senior campaign. That came after helping UT Martin to the 2016 regular season OVC championship as a junior, helping the squad to a 17-2 record in OVC play over her final two seasons. She wrapped up her Skyhawk career ranking second in all-time singles victories (85), fourth in combined wins (162) and fifth in doubles victories (77).
Amy Goff (1992-96)
Hailing from Albuquerque, NM, Goff was the first player in program history to earn All-OVC honors in all four seasons. A 2016 inductee into the UT Martin Athletics Hall of Fame, she was an integral part of the school’s first two OVC tennis championships in 1994 and 1995. During her tenure as a student-athlete, UT Martin posted a 46-25 overall record (.648 winning percentage) while winning 81.8 percent (27-6) of its OVC decisions. Goff currently ranks fourth in Skyhawk history in singles wins (83), sixth in combined victories (155) and ninth in doubles wins (72).
Caroline Groves (1991-95)
Groves was UT Martin’s first-ever OVC Female Athlete of the Year recipient, winning that prestigious accolade as a senior. She was also named OVC Player of the Year and Tennessee NCAA Woman of the Year for the 1994-95 academic season, which capped off back-to-back OVC titles for the tennis program. Playing out of the No. 1 position throughout her collegiate career, she departed UT Martin as the school’s all-time leader in combined wins (164) and doubles victories (89) while tacking on 75 singles triumphs (currently sixth in school history). The London, England native was enshrined in the UT Martin Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001.
Martha Montano (1998-2002)
A native of Leon, Mexico, Montano was named OVC Player of the Year as a senior, wrapping up three consecutive years where she earned a spot on the All-OVC squad. She left the Skyhawks as the program’s all-time leader in singles victories (86) and currently ranks fifth all-time in combined wins (159) and seventh in doubles victories (73). During her final three seasons alone, she won 74 percent (74-26 record) of her combined singles and doubles decisions during the main spring portion of the schedule.
Hitomi Naito (2013-17)
Naito became the third player in school history to achieve All-OVC status in all four seasons, which included spots on the league’s first team in both her freshman and junior campaigns. The Tokyo, Japan native helped the Skyhawks claim the 2016 OVC regular season championship as a junior as UT Martin went 17-2 against league competition over her final two seasons. She ranks seventh in school history with 73 doubles victories while her 136 combined wins rank ninth on the all-time career leaderboard.
Angela Olsen (1993-97)
The 1996 OVC Player of the Year, Olsen was simply dominant against league foes during her UT Martin tenure. She boasted a 35-3 record (.921 winning percentage) in singles action while going 36-2 (.947) in doubles competition. She combined for six total mentions on the All-OVC list (accomplishing that feat in both singles and doubles her first two seasons before the list merged to one team for her final two years) and helped direct UT Martin to OVC regular season titles in both 1994 and 1995. The Canterbury, England native exhausted her eligibility with the most combined wins (164) in school history and still ranks third with 88 doubles victories and fifth with 76 singles wins. She was inducted into the UT Martin Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008.
Jodie Tiley (2009-12)
Tiley was the first player in OVC history to win both OVC Player of the Year (2012) and OVC Freshman of the Year (2009) accolades. The Cambridge, England native was an All-OVC first team performer in each of her final two seasons, including a 2011 season where the Skyhawks nabbed the OVC regular season championship. The 2022 UT Martin Athletics Hall of Famer dialed up 111 combined victories over her career and won 74.6 percent (50-17 record) of her decisions in OVC play. As a team, the Skyhawks went 29-6 in league competition over her four seasons.
Dennis Taylor (1987-2019)
A Lawrenceburg, Tenn. native and UT Martin alum, Taylor set an OVC record with seven Coach of the Year awards – bringing his career conference Coach of the Year awards tally up to 10. At the time of his retirement in December 2019, he collected 535 victories – which was good enough for fifth place amongst active NCAA Division I head coaches. During his 32-year tenure, he guided the Skyhawks to nine conference champions (six OVC titles) and the program’s first-ever NCAA Regional appearance in 2005. Overall, the 2021 UT Martin Athletics Hall of Famer oversaw a pair of national champions, 11 All-Americans, five OVC Players of the Year, three OVC Freshmen of the Year and 74 all-conference recipients.
Below is a listing of the top women’s tennis student-athletes and coaches in OVC history:
Esra Bayburt, Tennessee Tech (1994-98)
Sally-Anne Birch, Morehead State (1982-85)
Sarah Candeloro, UT Martin (2013-17)
Elina Durchman, Middle Tennessee (1978-79)
Amandine Faouzi, Eastern Kentucky (2011-15)
Mia Frogner, SIUE (2013-17)
Amy Goff, UT Martin (1992-96)
Caroline Groves, UT Martin (1991-95)
Lupita Hernandez, Tennessee Tech (1998-2002)
T.J. Kleynhans, Austin Peay (1983-86)
Jill Lambrechts, SIUE (2019-23)
Anna Lask, Murray State (2003-07)
Viviane Marani, Jacksonville State (2007-11)
Martha Montano, UT Martin (1998-2002)
Hitomi Naito, UT Martin (2013-17)
Angela Olsen, UT Martin (1993-97)
Rachel Papavasilopoulos, Eastern Illinois (2017-22)
Shannon Peters, Austin Peay (1988-91)
Diana Pous, Tennessee Tech
Briar Preston, Morehead State (2013-15)
Clare Sevier, Middle Tennessee (1996-98)
Susan Sheather, Austin Peay (1991-94)
Alexandra Sitnikova, Eastern Kentucky (2006-09)
Yael Soresman, Middle Tennessee (1990-93)
Melissa Spencer, Murray State (1999-2004)
Romana Tarajova, Southeast Missouri (2018-23)
Jodie Tiley, UT Martin (2009-12)
Vanja Tomic, Austin Peay (2010-12)
Marieta Valkova, Tennessee Tech
Nikki Wagstaff, Eastern Kentucky (1987-89)
Claudia Yanes Garcia, Austin Peay (2015-19)
Lidia Yanes Garcia, Austin Peay (2015-19)
Coaches of Note
Connie Keasling, Murray State
Sandy Neal, Middle Tennessee
Rob Oertel, Eastern Kentucky
Dennis Taylor, UT Martin
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information