SAN DIEGO – San Diego State women’s tennis is set to open their fall season on Thursday at the USTA Intercollegiate Championships, hosted by the University of San Diego. Doubles will begin at 10 a.m., followed by an afternoon of singles action.
Seven Aztecs will compete this weekend, led by captains Gloria Alogo and Zoe Olmos. The two returners are joined by five newcomers: freshmen Charlotte Roesch and Liisa Varul, sophomore transfer Vesa Gjinaj, and junior transfers Jo-Yee Chan and Ninon Martinache.
“We’re very excited to get the ball rolling for the 2024-25 season,” says Head Coach Peter Mattera. “We have five new players on a team of eight and I’m looking forward to letting them go out there and do the things that we’ve been working on in two weeks of practice. This is going to be a great steppingstone for what I think is going to be a very good year for Aztec women’s tennis.”
Coming off an impressive 2023-24 season in which the Aztecs claimed a Mountain West Tournament Championship and NCAA Tournament bid, this year’s team will look to build on that success with help from several new additions.
The Newcomers
Vesa Gjinaj comes to SDSU from Belmont University, where she was named the Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year last season. Born in Vushtrri, Kosovo, Gjinaj has represented her home country in three Billie Jean King Cup competitions and has recorded two ITF Juniors tournament titles.
Jo-Yee Chan spent two years at the University of Oregon where she had success competing in the No. 3 spot for the Ducks, going 15-6 in singles as a freshman. A highly touted prospect out of high school, Chan won five national doubles titles prior to her collegiate career.
Ninon Martinache garnered First-Team All-Sun Belt Conference singles honors at Georgia Southern University after finishing her sophomore season with a 21-4 record and earning Sun Belt Player of the Week twice in the month of April.
Freshmen Charlotte Roesch and Liisa Varul will make their collegiate debut on Thursday, coming to SDSU from Germany and Estonia, respectively.
The Captains
2024 Mountain West Tournament MVP Gloria Alogo finished her sophomore season on a five-match winning streak and helped lead her team to a conference tournament championship. Joined by fellow Mountain West All-Tournament Team honoree Zoe Olmos, the duo return as captains of this year’s squad.