Katarina Kozarov Career Records
Senior Year (2019-20): Kozarov was named an ITA All-American, becoming only the second player in Furman women’s tennis history to earn the honor, after posting a 10-1 overall record at flight one singles and an 8-1 mark in doubles, where she played primarily at flight one. The 2020 Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division I Most Improved Senior and the ITA Carolina Region Most Improved Senior, she was ranked as high as 13th nationally in singles and 21st nationally in doubles. Kozarov opened the spring season with 10-consecutive singles victories, including defeating No. 8 N.C. State’s Anna Rogers, who was ranked 18th at the time, 6-2, 6-3. She went on to record victories over ranked players from Georgia Tech and Michigan State during the shortened season. In doubles, she teamed with MaryAnn Rompf for a victory over Georgia Tech at flight two before moving to flight one, where she and partner Julia Adams scored key wins versus Notre Dame, Michigan State, Louisville, and Middle Tennessee State. Kozarov 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, who was honored with Furman’s C. Dan Joyner Outstanding Female Athletic Leader Award, was named to the Southern Conference Academic Honor Roll, the SoCon Academic All-Conference Team, and the ITA All-Academic Team.
Junior Year (2018-19): Kozarov was voted the 2019 Southern Conference Player of the Year and was selected to the all-conference first team for both singles and doubles. The 2019 SoCon Tournament MVP, she concluded the season as the top-ranked player in the league at No. 67 and earned the SoCon’s automatic bid to the NCAA Singles Championship, becoming the first Paladin to compete at the singles championship since 2011. Kozarov, who ranked as high as 30th nationally, recorded an 21-3 overall record and perfect 7-0 league mark at flight one singles. She opened the season with a seven-match winning streak, highlighted by a key 6-3, 7-6(4) victory over Louisville, then went on to record non-conference victories over Middle Tennessee and Florida Gulf Coast mid-season. Kozarov put together a string of ten straight-sets wins to conclude the season. She teamed with Julia Adams at flight one doubles, and the Paladin duo was ranked as high as 40th nationally. Kozarov and Adams tallied a 17-4 overall record and 6-1 SoCon mark with dominant wins over Louisville (6-1), Middle Tennessee (6-3), and Winthrop (6-2). The Paladin doubles team won 12 of 13 matches from Feb. 23 versus MTSU through the opening round of the SoCon Championships, downing both Mercer and ETSU, 6-4, in crucial league match-ups.
Sophomore Year (2017-18): Kozarov was honored as the 2018 Southern Conference Player of the Year and was selected to the all-conference first team for singles. She posted an 18-5 overall record and perfect 6-0 league mark at flight one singles. After scoring early season non-conference victories over Coastal Carolina, Elon, Penn, DePaul, and Charlotte, Kozarov concluded the season with wins in 13 of 14 matches where her match reached a decision. She teamed up with Gabby Rodriguez for a perfect 7-0 doubles mark. The Paladin duo won four-straight matches over Georgia State, Mercer, Wofford, and Brenau, then Kozarov combined with Danni Vines and Katty Weymouth to stretch the winning streak to six matches. Kozarov was named to the Southern Conference Academic Honor Roll, the SoCon Academic All-Conference Team, and the ITA All-Academic Team.
Freshman Year (2016-17): Kozarov was named to the All-Southern Conference second team for both singles and doubles and was named to the SoCon All-Freshman team after putting together a 19-7 overall singles record and perfect 7-0 league mark playing primarily at flight four. She came from behind for a 2-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-8) victory versus Troy early in the season then won 17 out of 18 matches beginning with a 6-3, 6-3 advantage over N.C. State on Feb. 10 and continuing through the SoCon Championships, where she beat East Tennessee State, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, in the championship match. In doubles play, she was 15-4 overall and went undefeated at 6-0 against SoCon foes. Kozarov combined with Blair Martin for a 13-1 overall doubles record, playing mostly at flight three. She won 15-consecutive doubles matches, posting an early-season doubles win with Anna Walter over Brenau, then teaming up with Gabby Rodriguez to down USC Upstate, 6-0, before joining forces with Martin to register 13-straight wins, including three-consecutive victories in the Southern Conference Championships. Kozarov was named to the Southern Conference Academic Honor Roll.
Prep/Personal: Katarina Kozarov, who ranked 474th in the world during the summer of 2016, attended IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. and was coached by Red Ayme. She boasted a 6-0 record versus 4-star recruits by www.tennisrecruiting.net and a 2-0 mark against 2 and 3-star recruits. Kozarov made one final, nine semifinals, and nine quarterfinals of ITF grade 4 events or higher. The IMG Academy''s Dartmouth Prize Book Award winner in 2015, Kozarov recorded a 4.23 GPA and was honored as the IMG Academy Student-Athlete of the Week in March of 2016. She is a member of the National Honor Society. Katarina Kozarov was born on May 1, 1998, in Novi Sad, Serbia. She is the daughter of Gordana and Milos Kozarov. She is majoring in Spanish.
