2026 All-Big West Women’s Tennis Team and Awards
The Big West is proud to reveal its 2026 All-Big West Women’s Tennis Team and Awards, five days after the conclusion of the 2026 Big West Women’s Tennis Championship. The teams and awards were voted on by the league's 10 head coaches.
UC Santa Barbara junior
Ekua Youri was voted as The Big West Player of the Year. It is the 10th time overall and sixth year in a row that a Gaucho has won the league’s top individual honor. Youri is 12-7 overall, going 8-6 at No. 1 and 4-1 at No. 2, with a 4-1 conference mark. The Gaucho junior is not only an All-Big West First Team selection as a singles player, but also as a doubles pair with Caroline Beard, going 9-3 overall and 5-2 in Big West action, 3-2 at No. 1, 3-1 at No. 2 and 3-0 at No. 3.
UC San Diego’s
Olivia Allegre earned The Big West Freshman of the Year honor. The Triton rookie went 7-12 overall, all at the No. 1 spot, and 6-3 in league matches. In doubles, Allegre, with partner Julia Visaya, had a 3-0 overall record, 2-0 in league play, all at the top of the lineup. Allegre earned All-Big West First Team honors as a singles player and honorable mention as a doubles pair with Julia Visaya.
UC Santa Barbara head coach
Simon Thibodeau was tabbed as The Big West Coach of the Year. It is the fourth time that Thibodeau has won the conference’s top coaching accolade. The 14th-year head coach guided the Gauchos to a 17-8 overall record and going a perfect 9-0 in conference play to win the regular-season crown. UC Santa Barbara won the 2026 Big West Women’s Tennis Championship as the top seed, defeating No. 4 seed Long Beach State 4-3 in the semifinals and topping No. 2 seed Cal Poly 4-3 for the title. The Gauchos are ranked No. 50 in the latest ITA rankings released on April 1. UC Santa Barbara will represent The Big West in the upcoming NCAA Women’s Tennis Championship with a matchup at No. 11 seed Pepperdine on Friday, May 1 at 10 a.m. PT.
Singles players on the All-Big West First Team are Allegre, Youri, Cal Poly's
Kennedy Buntrock (12-7, 6-2 BW), Long Beach State's
Cecilia Costa (15-9, 5-4 BW), CSUN's
Angela Ho (13-9, 3-5 BW), Cal State Fullerton's
Emilie Lugon-Moulin (14-5, 7-1 BW) and
Polina Marakhtanova of UC Davis (12-6, 6-2 BW). The doubles pairing on the All-Big West first team features
Caroline Beard and Youri of UC Santa Barbara (9-3, 5-2 BW), Costa and Paulina
Franco Martinessi of Long Beach State (15-5, 6-2 BW), Ho and
Nicole West of CSUN (15-6, 6-2 BW) and
Mika Ikemori and Marakhtanova of UC Davis (11-9, 5-3 BW).
The All-Big West second team singles includes Ikemori (13-7, 5-2 BW), Cal Poly's
Jessica MacCallum (12-8, 6-2 BW), UC Santa Barbara's
Shachf Liebermann (8-4, 2-0 BW) and
Emma Tutoveanu (16-5, 6-1 BW), UC Irvine's
Yen Nhi Huynh (9-10, 4-2 BW) and Cal State Fullerton's
Martina Markov (9-9, 3-5 BW). Second team doubles include the pairs of
Candela Aparisi and
Natalie Lynch of Cal Poly (12-7, 5-1 BW),
Carolyna Fowler and
Amanda Perez of UC Irvine (8-9, 3-2 BW),
Hannah Galindo and
Makeilah Nepomuceno of Hawai'i (10-7, 6-3 BW) and
Grege Gull and
Sophie Rachor of Hawai'i (9-9, 6-3 BW).