GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Senior Katarina Kozarov is ranked 13th nationally, and the Paladins landed two doubles teams among the top 30 in the final 2019 Oracle Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division I National Fall Rankings, which were released this week by the organization.
The two-time reigning SoCon Player of the Year, Kozarov, a native of Novi Sad, Serbia, posted an 8-5 record in fall competition, highlighted by a 7-6(6), 6-3 win over tenth-ranked Kelly Chen of Duke at the Debbie Southern Fall Classic in September.
At the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, she scored four consecutive wins to reach the consolation finals, clinching an automatic entry into the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships. Kozarov came from behind in the semifinals, winning 11 of the last 12 games, to beat No. 40 Valeriya Zeleva of UCF, 7-5, 6-1. Kozarov downed then 20th-ranked Asuka Kawai of Illinois, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, and No. 87 Martina Cappuro of Oklahoma, 6-4, 6-4, to reach the semifinals. Earlier in the week, she defeated No. 50 Jessica Failla of Pepperdine, 7-6, 7-6. In the first round of the national fall championships, Kozarov topped No. 76 Rebeka Mertena of Tennessee, 7-5, 6-0.
Of Kozarov's five fall losses, all were to ranked opponents, including three at the hands of players ranked among the nation's top eight. Two of those, a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 loss to top-ranked Ashley Lahey of Pepperdine, and a 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 loss against No. 3 Estela Perez-Somarriba of Miami, came in three sets.
Kozarov's 13th-place ranking is the second-highest ever for a Furman women's tennis player, just behind Laura Gioia's seventh-place ranking in 2009.
The Paladin duo of sophomores Julia Adams and Madison Dillon is ranked 23rd nationally, the highest ranking ever for a Furman women's doubles team, while Kozarov and Adams are ranked 30th nationally.
Adams, a native of Knoxville, Tenn., and the reigning SoCon Freshman of the Year, and Dillon, who hails from Hilton Head, S.C., teamed up for a 4-1 record in fall competition, with all five matches being played at the ITA Carolina Regional Championship.
The Paladin duo, which reached the semifinals at the championship, blanked Elon's Alex Koniaev and Uma Nayar, 8-0, in the opening round of the main draw before defeating 46th-ranked Anna Brylin and Sabhyata Nihalani of Wake Forest, 8-5, in the round of 32. In the round of 16, Adams and Dillon downed Meible Chi and Summer Devorak of Duke, 8-5, and in the quarterfinals, the Paladins beat fifth-ranked Makenna Jones and Cameron Morra of North Carolina, 8-3. Silvia Chinellato and Emma Shelton of South Carolina, who rank 18th nationally held off Furman, 3-6, 6-4, 11-9, in the semifinals.
Kozarov and Adams combined for a 4-3 record during the fall tournaments, posting a 2-1 mark at the Debbie Southern Fall Classic and a 2-2 record at the ITA All-American Championship. At the Fall Classic, the Furman duo defeated 14th-ranked Emmanuelle Salas and Victoria Allen of Florida State, 8-6, and No. 43 Magda Adaloglou and Tamara Racine of Mississippi State, 8-2. In the finals, the Paladins fell to fifth-ranked Jones and Morra of North Carolina, 8-7(6). Kozarov and Adams defeated teams from Syracuse and St. Johns at the All-Americans before falling to fourth-ranked Jessie Gong and Samanatha Martinelli of Yale, 8-5.
"It has been a lot of fun to watch our players continue to improve, and we are excited to see what the spring has in store for our team," said Furman head coach Adam Herendeen. "We have believed for a while now that Katarina was one of the best players in college tennis, and the fall that she put together, on the biggest stages, has proven that. We always take great pride in the brand of doubles that we play and having three players ranked in the top 30 in the nation is something that we are very proud of."
