Tempe, AZ – The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (“ITA”) is pleased to announce the 2025 ITA Division I Women’s National Award recipients. Every year the ITA recognizes coaches and student-athletes for their excellence both on the court and in their communities throughout the season.
The Division I national awards include: ITA Coach of the Year, ITA Assistant Coach of the Year, Arthur Ashe Leadership & Sportsmanship Award, ITA Cissie Leary Sportsmanship Award, ITA Rookie of the Year, ITA Most Improved Player, ITA Senior Player of the Year, ITA Player to Watch, and the ITA National Player of the Year.
Continue reading below to find out more about each of the 2025 ITA National Award winners:
ITA Coach of the Year
Drake Bernstein | University of Georgia
Drake Bernstein from the University of Georgia has been named the 2025 ITA Division I Women’s Coach of the Year. At the helm of the No. 1 ranked team in Division I Women’s Tennis, Berstein has guided the Bulldogs to three Championships this spring alone winning the ITA National Team Indoor Championship, SEC Tournament Championship, and NCAA Championship. In just his second year, Bernstein and the Bulldogs finished 29-3 overall (13-2 SEC) and were ranked No. 1 nationally in the ITA Year-End Rankings. Behind his efforts, Dasha Vidmanova reached a No. 1 national ranking and was crowned the 2024-25 NCAA Singles Champion. Georgia finished the season undefeated in tournament-style competition this spring, producing a 13-0 record between winning the 2025 ITA National Team Indoor Championships (four wins), the 2025 SEC Tournament (three wins) and the NCAA Tournament (six wins).
ITA Assistant Coach of the Year
Ty Schaub | University of Michigan
Ty Schaub from the University of Michigan has been named the 2025 ITA Division I Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year. In his first year with the program, Schaub helped guide the Wolverines to one of their most impressive seasons to date. Finishing with an impressive 27-5 overall record, the Wolverines reached the finals of the 2025 Big Ten Championship and reached the semifinals of the NCAA Championship this past May. The Michigan team finished the season ranked No. 3 in the ITA Year-End Rankings which was the highest finish in program history. Earning ITA Regional Assistant Coach of the Year honors on three occasions, this is the first time Schaub has been named the ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year.
ITA Arthur Ashe Leadership & Sportsmanship Award
Nibi Ghosh | University of Notre Dame
Nibi Ghosh from the University of Notre Dame has been named the 2025 ITA Division I Women’s Arthur Ashe Leadership & Sportsmanship Award winner. Posting a dominant senior season on the courts, Ghosh has been one of the biggest leaders both on and off the courts at Notre Dame. Serving three years on the Student-Athlete Advisory Council, including one year on the executive board, Ghosh has not only been an influential voice for her team but all of Notre Dame athletics during her time in South Bend. At the same time, Ghosh devoted three years, including one year as a co-lead, to Together Irish, a division of Notre Dame Athletics focused on leading diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives across campus. Ghosh has also spent extensive time in the community working with the Boys and Girls Club and the Fighting Irish Fight for Life, an initiative unique to Notre Dame Athletics, where student-athletes serve as mentors and teammates to children with pediatric cancer. This season she recorded a 21-5 singles record and 19-11 doubles record during the fall and spring seasons combined. During the spring, she was 12-1 (.923) at singles, the fourth-best winning percentage in Irish history.
ITA Cissie Leary Sportsmanship Award
Elaine Chervinsky | University of Virginia
Elaine Chervinsky from the University of Virginia has been named the 2025 ITA Division I Women’s Cissie Leary Sportsmanship Award winner. In a career marked with many highs as well as many lows, Chervinsky has learned to navigate many tough obstacles over her career all-the-while keeping to her core values of integrity, competitiveness, and sportsmanship. This past fall, Chervinsky alongside partner Mélodie Collard won the first NCAA Doubles Championship in Virginia history marking the reward to much turmoil and injuries that Chervinsky has fought through. However, later in the spring, injury struck again preventing Chervinsky from competing in many key match for Virginia, including the NCAA Tournament. As easy as it would be to have a bad attitude about her injury luck, Chervinsky rather took her circumstance as an opportunity to lift up those around her. Throughout the spring Chervinsky never once missed a practice, fitness session, team meeting, or team bonding activity and was consistently one of the biggest supporters for her teammates from the sidelines.
ITA Rookie of the Year
Cadence Brace | Louisiana State University
Cadence Brace from Louisiana State University has been named the 2025 ITA Division I Women’s Rookie of the Year. Coming in and immediately making an impact, Brace helped lead the LSU team to their first-ever NCAA quarterfinal appearance in program history. Finishing 14-6 in singles, behind a team-leading 11 ranked wins, Brace concluded the season ranked No. 8 in the ITA Singles Rankings. The freshman was named the SEC Freshman of the Year and was a first-team All-SEC selection while being featured on the SEC All-Freshman team. Brace also became the fourth Tiger in program history to earn both singles and doubles All-American honors in the same season, joining Bruna Colosio (2000), Joana Valle Costa (2017), and Anastasiya Komar (2023).
ITA Most Improved Player
Kallista Liu | University of Maryland
Kallista Liu from the University of Maryland has been named the 2025 ITA Division I Women’s Most Improved Player. Improving every year of her collegiate career, Liu began her time at Maryland playing from the No. 6 singles position before moving up the No. 4 position her sophomore year and then the No. 3 position her junior year. This season, Liu made her biggest jump yet going all the way up to the No. 1 singles position in the lineup where she impressed all season. Voted unanimous First Team All-Big Ten, Liu went 21-11 on the season with a 12-7 mark in dual match play this spring. Liu finishes her collegiate career at Maryland as the most winningest women’s tennis player in program history with a total of 122 wins across singles and doubles.
ITA Senior Player of the Year
Dasha Vidmanova | University of Georgia
Dasha Vidmanova from the University of Georgia has been named the 2025 ITA Division I Women’s Senior Player of the Year. Playing from the No. 1 singles and doubles positions for Georgia, Dasha Vidmanova was an integral part of the Bulldog team that would finish the year ranked No. 1 nationally after claiming the 2025 ITA National Team Indoor Championship, the 2025 SEC Tournament and the 2025 NCAA Championship. Being named the SEC Player of the Year, Vidmanova finished 32-5 overall in singles while going 20-4 in dual match singles match play this spring. She has compiled 24 ranked wins on the season, including seven wins over top ten ranked opponents. Recently, Vidmanova was crowned the 2025 Honda Sport Award winner for Tennis which is given to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports.
ITA Player to Watch
Piper Charney | University of Michigan
Piper Charney from the University of Michigan has been named the 2025 ITA Division I Women’s Player to Watch. Putting together her second straight 30-win season, winning a team-best 35 matches behind a 35-10 overall record, Charney was an integral part of Michigan’s success this past season. After playing at No. 6 last season, Charney vaulted up to the No. 2 spot in the lineup while going 21-4 in dual match singles play. Charney earned All-Big Ten first-team honors this spring and competed in her first NCAA Singles Championship this past fall in which she reached the second round. She has 72 wins through her first two seasons, with her .800 winning percentage currently ranking second all-time in Michigan Women’s Tennis history.
ITA National Player of the Year
Dasha Vidmanova | University of Georgia
Dasha Vidmanova from the University of Georgia has been named the 2025 ITA Division I Women’s National Player of the Year. Finishing the season as the No. 1 ranked singles player in the country, Dasha Vidmanova has earned the honor of being named the ITA National Player of the Year. In the fall, Vidmanova secured the 2024-25 NCAA Singles Championship, becoming the first Georgia athlete to win both the Singles and Doubles Championship over their collegiate career. In the spring, Vidmanova was just as dominant earning ITA Team Indoor and NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Player honors. She became the first player in Georgia history as well as the third woman in NCAA history to achieve the NCAA Triple Crown, winning an NCAA team, singles and doubles championship during her collegiate career. Vidmanova concludes her career with a 107-28 overall record in singles with a 68-20 mark in dual match singles as well as an 82-45 career doubles record with a 60-34 dual match doubles mark.
