St. Mary’s College of Maryland first-year Katherine Yao (North Potomac, Md./Thomas S. Wootton) was named the United East Conference Women’s Tennis Player of the Week on Tuesday. It is the first conference weekly award of her college career.
With the honor, St. Mary’s College has now swept all three of the league’s women’s tennis weekly awards this fall. Sophomore teammate Lily Ganjbaksh (Potomac, Md./Winston Churchill) won the first two, on Sept. 15 and Sept. 22.
A run to the regional final
Yao earned the award at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Southeast Regionals, hosted by the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va., on Sept. 25-27. She went 3-1 and reached the final of the Blue 3 East singles draw.
She opened with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Mary Washington’s Emily Tharpe in the round of 16, then beat Roanoke College’s Madison Cockrell 8-3 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, she edged Dickinson’s Madison Gerecke 8-6 to reach the final, where she fell 8-4 to Batten University’s Jette Hafermann.
Yao is 5-1 this fall, according to the college.
Doubles with Ganjbaksh
Yao and Ganjbaksh, who won at No. 1 doubles against Catholic earlier this month, also teamed up in the regionals’ Championship Main doubles draw and went 1-2.
The pair lost 8-2 in the round of 64 to Salisbury’s Cleopatra Solomon and Gibelle Beaujon. They advanced in the consolation round of 32 on a walkover against Lebanon Valley’s Maira McCartin and Erika Badner, then fell 8-2 to Mary Washington’s Madeleine Holman and Rita Taylor.
Up next
St. Mary’s College (0-1) returns to dual-match play Saturday, Oct. 10, at Marymount (Va.) University (0-1) in Arlington, Va. The nonconference match starts at 1 p.m.
The Seahawks enter the year as defending champions. Last spring they won their third United East Conference title and made their third NCAA Division III Tournament appearance, finishing 14-5 after a first-round loss to No. 8 Carnegie Mellon.
2026-27 United East Women’s Tennis Players of the Week
- Sept. 15 – Lily Ganjbaksh, St. Mary’s College, So.
- Sept. 22 – Lily Ganjbaksh, St. Mary’s College, So.
- Sept. 29 – Katherine Yao, St. Mary’s College, Fy.
