BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – The West Virginia State University women's tennis team placed four of its players on the list of the league's best. Tuva Wallin and Chante Malo received All-MEC First Team recognition while Gaya Solomon and Maya Haidari earned All-MEC Second Team honors.

Seniors Gaya Solomon and Chante Malo were paired at No. 1 doubles throughout most of the season. Solomon played at No. 1 singles while Malo played at No. 3 singles. 

One of Solomon's best performances was at the Lincoln Memorial University Invitational early in the spring season. She critically won both of her doubles and both of her singles matches to help the Yellow Jackets pick up two 4-3 victories. 

Arguably, Malo's best showing was in the 4-3 win over Slippery Rock halfway through the season. With the score tied at 3-3, she needed to win her next two sets at No. 3 singles after she dropped the first set. She cruised to a 6-1 decision in the second set to force a third. The third set went to a tiebreaker in which Malo came out on top to ensure her team walked away winners.

Sophomore Tuva Wallin filled in at No. 2 singles in her first year at West Virginia State. Wallin impressively won every single one of her singles matches in all the matches that WVSU won this season. In other words, she contributed to every team victory in 2022.

Junior Maya Haidari played at No. 4 singles for the most part and either played at No. 2 doubles or No. 3 doubles depending on the matchup. She was undefeated in singles and lost only one doubles match in conference play.

Malo and Solomon both earned all-conference honors for the second consecutive season. Malo was named All-MEC Second Team while Solomon was dubbed All-MEC First Team last year. Both Malo and Wallin were named MEC Player of the Week during the current season.

The No. 53 Yellow Jackets will play No. 62 West Liberty in the semifinals of the MEC Tournament on Saturday, April 30th. The match is scheduled for 5 p.m. in Charleston, W.Va. at the Schoenbaum Tennis Courts.

Currently, West Virginia State is ranked No. 2 in the Atlantic Region which is good enough to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Charleston is ranked No. 3 while West Liberty is ranked No. 5 in the region.

2022 MEC Women's Tennis All-Conference Teams

Athlete of the Year: Prinkle Singh (UC)
Freshman of the Year: Emma Arnal (WLU)
Coach of the Year: Alec Foote (UC)

First Team All-MEC
AlexiAnn Drouin (UC)
Emma Arnal (WLU)
Evelina Martirosyan (WLU)
Prinkle Singh (UC)
Tuva Wallin (WVSU)
Ainara Pastor (FAIR)
Chante' Malo (WVSU)
Gemma Cliffe (WLU)

Second Team All-MEC
Gaya Solomon (WVSU)
Barbara Balancho (UC)
Harriet Glaves (UC)
Nathalia Valencia (WLU)
Haarini Balakrishnan (UC)
Emme McKnight (FAIR)
Maya Haidari (WVSU)
Carter Nettina (D&E)