BEREA, Ohio – With third-year head coach TJ Michalski at the helm, the Baldwin Wallace University women's tennis team enters the 2025–26 season aiming to make a strong push up the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) standings.
Coach Michalski returns a solid core of experienced and academically accomplished players, including four Academic All-OAC honorees from last season.
Leading the returners is senior Gillian Brown (Brunswick), along with juniors Colleen Andersen (Ashtabula/St. John), Olivia Koutouras (Avon Lake), and Samantha Thielen (Toledo/Sylvania Northview).
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Brown enters her final season after ranking second on the team with four singles wins and tying for second in doubles victories with three. She has compiled 10 career singles wins and seven doubles victories.
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Andersen, a first-time Academic All-OAC selection, tied for the team lead with five singles wins and added three doubles victories. Over two seasons, she has totaled 12 singles and seven doubles wins.
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Koutouras, who earned both Academic All-OAC and College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors, matched the team lead with five singles and four doubles victories. Her career totals include seven singles and six doubles wins.
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Thielen, also an Academic All-OAC honoree, tied for the team lead with five singles wins and ranked third with three doubles wins, giving her six singles and three doubles victories in her career.
Adding further depth to the roster are junior Saraphina Groh (Cuyahoga Falls) and sophomores Axel Joyce (Parma/Valley Forge) and Kate Slutz (Salem/West Branch), who are expected to contribute both in singles and doubles play.
The Yellow Jackets begin their fall campaign at the Allegheny College Invitational in Meadville, Pennsylvania, on August 30–31. The team will play its first home match of the fall on October 4, hosting NCAA Division II Ursuline College on the Pop Collins Tennis Courts.
The spring season is scheduled to begin in February 2026, highlighted by the program's annual spring break trip in early March, which will serve as a key stretch in their preparation for OAC play.
