PAC Release
TRAFFORD, Pa. -- After winning a third Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) championship in the last four years, the Allegheny College women's tennis team earned all three major year-end awards and placed seven Gators on the All-PAC teams.
Following a sensational fall season,
Gabrielle Bassette (Miami, Fla./Miami Country Day School) headlined Allegheny's honorees by taking home both PAC Player and Newcomer of the Year awards. She's only the second athlete in conference history to earn both during the same season and is the first Gator to earn either award from the PAC. Additionally, Bassette joined Hall of Famer Victoria Thomas '87 as the second Gator in program history to be named a conference Player of the Year.
Head coach
Dave Hayden was voted the PAC's Coach of the Year after guiding the Gators to another undefeated regular season against conference opponents and their second consecutive championship. It's the second time he has been named Coach of the Year for women's tennis during his Allegheny tenure, and the fourth award of his career, dating back to his time at Westminster College.
Joining Bassette as All-PAC selections were teammates
Emiliia Grydnieva (Kyiv, Ukraine/Optima),
Evie Ellenberger (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair),
Maria Lounder (Pittsburgh, Pa./Moon Area),
Giada Palmieri (Berlin, Germany/Paulsen Gymnasium),
Rei Etsumi (Honolulu, Hawaii/President William McKinley), and
Adriana Navarro (Distrito Central, Honduras/DelCampo School).
With a combined record of 32-2, Bassette received All-PAC First Team nods for both singles and doubles. As Allegheny's No. 1 singles player, she wrapped up the fall with a 15-0 record. In her debut at the Allegheny Invitational, Bassette took down Eliza Verstappen of Division II Walsh University, 7-6 (5), 6-4. She earned tiebreak wins over Daniela De Mata of Otterbein University and Carolina Walters of Saint Vincent College. Her 5-7, 6-1, 10-5 win over Walters, the reigning Player of the Year, put an end to her 33-match undefeated streak. Bassette teamed with Lounder for nine consecutive doubles wins, including two shutouts in the PAC tournament.
Grydnieva was also named to the All-PAC First Team for both singles and doubles. The 2024 PAC Championship Tournament MVP, she won 25 matches in the fall, including an 11-0 record against conference opponents in the regular season. She played as high as No. 1, where she defeated Claire Loomis of Washington and Jefferson College. In doubles, Grydnieva and Ellenberger were undefeated as a tandem with eight wins atop the lineup.
Ellenberger joined her doubles partner as an All-PAC First Team pick and was included on the second team for singles. Her only singles loss came after retiring due to injury in the first match of the Allegheny Invitational. Ellenberger led all Gators with an 18-0 doubles record, including eight wins at No. 1. During the two-day Wooster Invitational, she won all five doubles matches, which helped her secure her first of two PAC Player of the Week awards.
Lounder, this year's PAC Championship Tournament Most Outstanding Player, was named All-PAC First Team for doubles and earned honorable mention accolades for singles. She was 31-5 overall with 14 singles wins and 17 doubles victories. She dropped only one match against a PAC opponent and climbed as high as No. 3, where she beat Thiel College's Chloe Walton, 6-0, 6-0. Lounder and Bassette went 9-0 as a duo and outscored their last six opponents 36-3.
Etsumi was a second-team selection for her work in singles competition. The junior went 14-2 with a 6-1 mark against conference opponents. She appeared anywhere from No. 3 through No. 6 in the lineup and outlasted Franciscan University's Colette Park in a tiebreaker victory, 6-3, 3-6, 10-6.
An All-PAC Honorable Mention team, Palmieri and Navarro both recorded 10 doubles victories during the fall. Together, they defeated duos from Geneva College and Waynesburg University, highlighted by a 6-0 sweep of the Yellow Jackets. Palmieri was also tabbed an All-PAC Second Teamer for her singles performances after posting a 14-1 record.
