CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Five members of the Lesley women's tennis team have earned North Atlantic Conference (NAC) postseason honors, as announced by the conference earlier today.
Mary Osucha (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Head Coach Jessica Russo highlighted the list of award winners by receiving NAC Player of the Year and NAC Coach of the Year honors, respectively. Osucha's Player of the Year honor is the first in her career. Additionally, Osucha is the third student-athlete in program history to earn NAC Player of the Year honors (Jessica Legendre (Leesville, La.) in 2023-24 and Maddie Abbott (Portland, Maine) in 2018-19).
Along with her player of the year award, Osucha was also named to All-Conference Singles and All-Conference Doubles. On the year, she went 12-1 overall (5-0 NAC) in singles matches during the regular season. Meanwhile, in the postseason, Osucha was a perfect 2-0 against Thomas and Husson.
In doubles, she and Lucy Boyce (Marshfield, Mass.) posted an impressive 9-2 (5-0 NAC) record during the regular season. Seven of those victories came in the number one spot, whereas only two were in the number two position. In the NAC Playoffs, the duo won their matchups versus Thomas (8-1) and Husson (8-6), all at number two.
Legendre was one of three Lynx to earn All-Conference Singles for the 2024 season. Osucha and Caroline Champa (Boston, Mass.) were the other two. Legendre's regular season was also just as dominant as the junior posted a 10-1 record (5-0 NAC) at the number two spot in singles action. In all her wins this year, her closest score was a 7-5 win in the season opener at UMass Dartmouth. Otherwise, the highest score her opponents would get to was three. In the postseason, Legendre continued her dominant run from the regular season and was victorious in both her matchups against Thomas and Husson.
Champa was Lesley's third All-Conference Singles honoree. The senior finished with a perfect record in singles action this year, going 6-0 (4-0 NAC), and also won both her NAC playoff matchups. All her wins this season came in the number three spot for the senior. In each regular season wins, her closest contest was a 6-3 victory versus Thomas. Four of her wins this year ended up being straight-set sweeps.
Meanwhile, in doubles, she and Legendre posted a perfect record of 5-0 (4-0 NAC) at both the one and two spots. The duo kept up their strong regular-season play in the postseason, going 2-0 against Thomas (8-1) and Husson (8-4), all in the number one spot.
Coach Russo has once again been named NAC Coach of the Year after winning the award the last two seasons. Russo guided the Lynx to their first-ever NAC Championship behind a 9-4 overall record and a perfect 5-0 mark in league play. Russo has compiled a 27-27 overall record (.500) and an 8-2 conference record (.800) at the helm of the program since she took over in 2021.
After winning the NAC Championship, Lesley earned the NAC Women's Tennis automatic qualifier (AQ) to the NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Championship tournament to be played in the spring of 2025. The tournament field will be announced on May 5th, and play will begin on May 9th at a site to be determined later.