ITA Rookie of the Year award honors a first-year student-athlete who made significant contributions to their team in the areas of leadership, sportsmanship, and performance.
Emma began her collegiate career by winning her first 14 collegiate singles matches. Her only loss so far this season was being edged in three sets by 2019 NCAA Singles Champion Estella Perez-Somerriba of Miami. She went 10-1 against ranked opponents this year and was 12-1 in the ACC at the No. 1 slot in a conference that currently holds the top-three spots in the ITA singles rankings. She has notable wins this season against No. 3 Alexa Graham, No. 5 Anna Rogers, and No. 8 Giulia Pairone (all rankings listed are at the time she played them) with three additional top-20 victories against Kenya Jones (13), Kelly Chen (17), and Carolyn Campana (15).
She also helped the team move up to a top-10 ranking this season (and our current No. 11), earn the No. 4 seed in the ACC Championship, and helped the Cavaliers make the ACC semifinals for the first time since 2015.
On the court, she dominates the competition but conducts herself in a very poised and professional manner. She Is the model of decorum and sportsmanship. Other than first pumps and bumps and smiles when playing with her doubles partner Rosie Johanson, Emma lets her tennis speak for itself and has very few outward celebrations, and those celebrations are never used to show up her opponent. Emma is a dedicated, hard worker who also has embraced the team nature of the sport and is the brightest rookie star in collegiate tennis.
A letter from Virginia Women's Tennis Head Coach, Sara O'Leary
Emma,
Congratulations on National Rookie of the Year! Our team, our staff, the fans, and the University of Virginia could not be prouder of you! Not only do you represent our program and yourself with your success on the court, but you always do it with class, grace, and humility. Even with all your individual success this year, you always choose to put your teammates first and do whatever is best for your team. You bring so much joy to our UVA family with your positive energy, work ethic, passion for college tennis, and of course, dance moves! We are so grateful for you, Emma, and so excited to see what the future holds for you. Thank you for the positive impact you have had on our program and on college tennis. We can’t wait to keep supporting you in every way we can to help you accomplish all your goals on and off the court. Keep setting an example for so many young players around the world that anything is possible when you believe in yourself, trust the process and work hard every single day. Congratulations again and go Hoos!