HAMPTON, Va. (Feb. 1, 2024) – The Lady Pirates tennis team will be kicking off its season with two matches on Friday, Feb. 2, and Saturday, Feb. 3, in Towson, Md. Hampton will battle against Loyola (Md.) on Friday at 6 PM, and then make the short trip over to Morgan State on Saturday, starting at 2 PM.

Live results for the matches against Loyola will be here.

After falling to a 2-12 record in the 2021-22 season, The Lady Pirates resurged, finishing last year at 8-11. Hampton ended the regular-season on a three-match win streak before falling to North Carolina A&T 4-3 in the CAA Championships.

The four Pirates that are returning from last year's team include Diana Starodubtseva with a singles record of 9-8, Lucia Jorrin Fernandez (7-8), Mio Kozaki (5-8), and Sofia Sokolova (4-9). In doubles, Starodubtseva and Kozaki played together and won nine out of 13 matches (9-4). Fernandez earned a 6-10 record and Sokolova 4-8.

Newcomers

Alisia Manolescu is transferring in as a grad student from William and Mary with a singles record of 16-13 and 10-8 in doubles. She helped defeat Norfolk State, Longwood, UNCW, Richmond, and Virginia Tech in her time there. Meiri Okuwaki joins after dominating competition for two years at the University of Cumberland. In her two seasons there, she posted a 40-4 singles record and went 39-8 in doubles. She was named Mid-South Conference (MSC) Player of the Year, NAIA First-Team All-American, and MSC First-Team All-Conference twice. Masa Mitic joins the Lady Pirates as a freshman.