TOLEDO, Ohio – Senior Cassie Alcala was named Mid-American Conference Women's Tennis Player of the Year for the third consecutive season, the conference announced on Thursday. Additionally, head coach Tracy Mauntler was named MAC Coach of the Year, becoming the first Toledo women's tennis coach to earn back-to-back MAC Coach of the Year recognition.

Alcala is one of four Rockets to earn postseason accolades this year. She was named First-Team All-MAC for the fourth time in her career and was joined by senior Sloane Teske as a first-team selection. Senior Shalini Tallamraju was named Second-Team All-MAC for the second straight season. Alcala is 16-5 this spring with an 8-2 MAC record, Teske is 12-5 with an identical 8-2 conference record, and Tallamraju is 15-6 with a team-best 9-1 MAC record.

Alcala has had a record-setting final season in the Midnight Blue & Gold. This year, she took over as the program's all-time leading winner with 98 singles wins from the top court and 175 combined singles and doubles victories. Alcala defeated 2023 Big East Player of the Year Imani Graham (Xavier) on Jan. 27 and clinched match point twice for the Rockets this year. She was named MAC Singles Player of the Week two times and earned MAC Doubles Team of the Week honors with senior Julia Kuszynski this year.

Teske also collected her fourth All-MAC honor. She jumped right back into the lineup after missing a majority of the fall season due to injury. At No. 2 doubles, Teske is 11-5, mostly with sophomore Sanjana Tallamraju, and the duo has a 6-2 record against other MAC tandems. At No. 2 singles, Teske clinched match point for UT against Duquesne (Feb. 23), Youngstown State (Feb. 25), and Miami (March 29). She ranks second in program history with 89 singles wins and 160 combined wins in her five-year career with Toledo.

Shalini Tallamraju is now a two-time Second-Team All-MAC honoree and is also a two-time MAC All-Tournament pick. She has a six-match winning streak going into the conference tournament this weekend, and clinched match point vs. the Bulls for the regular season title. Tallamraju ranks third in program history with 86 career singles victories.

In addition to winning back-to-back MAC Coach of the Year honors, Mauntler has led the Rockets to regular season MAC Championship titles in 2023 and 2024, as well as the No.1 seed in the conference tournament in both seasons. Mauntler reached a milestone of 250 career wins with the Rockets in a win over Youngstown State on Feb. 25, and is currently at 260 victories. Under her direction, the Rockets won a record 18 consecutive conference matches from April 2022 to April 2024, and have won 15 straight home matches since January of 2023.

Toledo (16-5, 9-1 MAC) is the No.1 seed in the 2024 MAC Championship Tournament and will play No.4 seed Eastern Michigan in the semifinals on Friday morning at the UT Varsity Tennis Courts.

2023 MAC Women's Tennis All-MAC Teams & Specialty Award Winners
Coach of the Year: Tracy Mauntler, Toledo
Player of the Year: Cassie Alcala, Toledo
Freshman of the Year: Polina Khotko, Western Michigan
Leann Grimes Davidge Sportsmanship Award: Tia Clemens, Bowling Green

All-MAC First Team
Annika Planinsek, Ball State
Daniella Shved, Eastern Michigan
Catherine Denysiewicz-Slowek, Miami
Cassie Alcala, Toledo
Sloane Teske, Toledo
Lindsey Zieglar, Western Michigan
 
All-MAC Second Team
Azra Deniz Comlek, Buffalo
Laura Koralnik, Buffalo
Sara Zalukar, Miami
Shalini Tallamraju, Toledo
Karin Hamilton, Western Michigan
Polina Khotko, Western Michigan