New-Look Women’s Tennis Ready to Continue Winning Ways This Spring

Fresh faces will be scattered across the 2025 Georgia Gwinnett College women’s tennis team this spring. In fact, only two of the Grizzlies’ eight players have played a dual match for the Green and Gray when the team takes the court for the first time this season later this week.

GGC, ranked No. 1 in the NAIA Preseason Top 25 poll, has won seven consecutive national championships and nine total titles since the program was founded in 2012-13. The team enters the 2025 spring season on a 35-match winning streak after going 18-0 last year.

Senior Justine Lespes and junior Versace Gatti return from last season’s national championship squad – both winning important singles matches in the 4-3 title match triumph against Keiser University (Florida).

Lespes was the nation's top-ranked singles player in 2024, as selected by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), and is a two-time first-team All-American. She had an undefeated spring season in 17 matches on the No. 1 court. 

Gatti is another returning NAIA All-American after garnering third team honors last spring following a season with a 10-0 singles record, with nine victories coming on the No. 4 court. The junior also was victorious in eight of her 10 doubles matches in her first season as a Grizzly in 2024.

Meanwhile, despite having limited playing experience, GGC’s 2025 roster is filled with several talented players from a variety of collegiate ranks who are primed to contribute to another title drive.

Senior Isid Hernandez reached the singles final in last fall’s Intercollegiate Tennis Association South Regional and partnered with Lespes to advance to the quarterfinal round of the ITA Cup. She also started her GGC career by being a semifinalist at the inaugural UTR NAIA Nationals. Hernandez came to the program after playing for NCAA Division I Incarnate Word University (Texas).

Junior Alexandra Melnikova is ready to make her debut with the Grizzlies after supporting last season’s national championship team. She represented GGC in the 2024 ITA South Regional after competing with Hernandez for Cowley Junior College (Kansas).

Freshman Diana Ilie made her collegiate debut as the No. 2 seed at the UTR NAIA Nationals last fall. She joins fellow freshmen MaryLove Edwards, Cherysh Henry and Elizabet Verizova in bringing strong credentials from successful junior tennis careers.

Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to open its spring schedule with a home doubleheader against NCAA Division II Belmont Abbey College (North Carolina) on Friday, January 24, at the GGC Tennis Facility, beginning at 11 a.m.