Old Dominion University Women's Tennis

Manilla had his most effective year as a head coach at the collegiate level in 2014-15, as he had his Lady Tennis Monarchs nationally ranked throughout the season. Old Dominion finished the year nationally ranked No. 56 by the ITA after an impressive 16-6 overall record, which included wins over nationally ranked No. 61 VCU (4-3) and No. 48 ranked Marshall (7-0). The incredible 7-0 win against No. 48 Marshall is the highest ranked team that ODU has beaten during Manillas tenure at the school. After such an impressive 2014-15 regular season, Manilla and ODU earned a No. 3 seed in the C-USA tournament before falling in the semifinals. Manilla defeated two Hall of Fame coaches on the season in Paul Kostin (VCU) and Dr. David Porter (BYU-Hawaii). At one point, Manilla had ODU on an eight-match win streak (spanned for over a month), as well as winners in 11 of 12 matches. In all in 2014-15, Manilla had five different Lady Tennis Monarchs rake in all conference honors. Borislava Botusharova made First Team for singles and was named the C-USA Freshman of the Year. Ingrid Vojcinakova joined Botusharova on First Team for singles, while Nikol Hristova and Marijana Novakovic garnered Second Team accolades. Ivana Vukovic claimed a spot on the Third Team for singles and the Botusharova/Hristova tandem teamed up to make Third Team All Conference USA for doubles. Vojcinakova was one of just six members named to the Conference USA All-Academic Team, while five Lady Tennis Monarchs garnered C-USA Honor Roll recognition for having above 3.0 cumulative grade point averages. In May, Botusharova was named the recipient of the 2015 Rookie of the Year award by the ITA for the entire Atlantic region. In the summer of 2014, Manilla picked up one of the most highly touted recruits in the programs history when Borislava Botusharova signed her NLI to Old Dominion. In the Fall of 2014, Botusharova was named the No. 6 ranked Newcomer/Freshman in the entire NCAA entering her first semester of college at ODU and has since continued to make noise on the national level. In their second season in C-USA (2013-14), the Lady Monarchs tallied an overall record of 12-6-1, including an impressive mark of 9-3 while playing at home. Manilla led ODU to a thrilling 4-3 comeback victory over Tulane in the first round of the C-USA Tournament before falling to eventual champion Rice. Individually, Manilla helped Nikol Hristova garner numerous accolades during her sophomore campaign. In April, she became the first ODU womens tennis player to receive the C-USA Player of the Week. At the seasons end, she was named to the All C-USA Singles First Team and, alongside Melissa Olguin, the All C-USA Doubles Second Team. Additionally, she was selected as a wildcard to play in the 2014 Boyd Tinsley Classic at Boars Head. The Lady Monarchs completed their first season in Conference USA in 2012, capping the year by defeating UAB in the first round of the Conference Championships team, becoming ODU's first sport to claim a win in a Conference USA Tournament. ODU finished the year 13-9, with four of the losses coming to schools ranked in the top-50 in the nation. Five Lady Monarchs finished the season in double-digit wins, including two freshmen, Nikol Hristova and Ivana Vukovic. Diana Ivanova became the first women's tennis player to earn C-USA honors, as she was named to the all-conference second team. In his first season at the helm, Manilla led ODU to a 13-10 overall mark and advanced to the CAA Tournament semifinals. Three Lady Monarchs earned all-conference honors, including CAA Co-Rookie of the Year in Aleksandra Mitrovska. Diana Ivanova earned first team honors while Melissa Esnal Olguin earned third-team accolades. Ivanova and Esnal Olguin teamed up for All-CAA doubles honors as well. "I was most impressed with Dom as an assistant tennis coach at ODU upon my arrival last year. He has only enhanced his tennis acumen with his stint at the John McEnroe Tennis Academy Coaching staff," Selig said. "Dom knows the ODU program and has great vision on improving our program to one of the nation's top women's programs in the country. He presented an extremely detailed plan for enhancing our recruiting, competitiveness, scheduling and fundraising that captured the attention and interest of the entire selection committee. We welcome Dom back as our new head women's tennis coach." Manilla, an ODU Graduate and former men's tennis player, spent a year coaching at the prestigious John McEnroe Tennis Academy in New York. Manilla was a part of the day-to-day on court training and worked closely with McEnroe, Gilad Bloom (former ATP #56 ranking and Academy Director) and Fritz Buehning (former ATP #21 ranking and Assistant Academy Director). Before joining the McEnroe Academy, Manilla returned to his alma mater for three years as an assistant coach. Manilla joined the Monarchs in the fall of 2007 and helped ODU to a third place finish in the Colonial Athletic Association, and ranking as high as No. 38 during the season, and an appearance in the conference tournament semifinals. The Monarchs reached the semi's again in 2009 and placed the doubles team of Aleksandr Seleznev and Tobias Fanselow in the NCAA Doubles Tournament, with Seleznev qualifying for the singles tournament. Dominic grew up in a tennis family as his father, Ron Manilla, is the Tennis Tournament Director and Master Pro at Boars Head Sports Club, as well as a PTR International Master Professional.  Dominic's brother, Josef Manilla, is the Director of Tennis at Lynchburg College, where he oversees all aspects of the men's and women's programs for the Hornets. Dom also worked at the Norfolk Yacht Club, where he trained several ranked junior players. Manilla finished his career at ODU with an 18-15 record and was part of the 2007 team that defeated Virginia Tech in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and finished with an overall ranking of No. 31. "I feel fortunate to have Dom return to his alma mater. I think he embodies the tangible and intangible qualities that will enable him as a head coach to foster a winning culture within our program," Associate Athletic Director and Committee Chair Bruce Stewart said. "He is a tireless individual that not only has the best interest of our program at heart, but truly bleeds blue and will be an asset to our campus community." SIGN UP FOR E-MAIL UPDATES ©  2016, Old Dominion University Athletics. All rights reserved.

Dominic Manilla enters his 15th season as head coach of the Old Dominion Women's Tennis team. Manilla has led the Monarchs to five-straight conference championships and six consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. He has a record 218-95 as head coach of the Monarchs.For his efforts at Old Dominion, he has been awarded the 2018, 2019 and 2021 ITA Atlantic Region Coach of the Year, the 2019, 2020 and 2021 Conference USA Coach of the Year, the 2023, 2024 and 2025 Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year and the 2018 VaSID State Coach of the Year. Manilla was also named the 2020 Professional Tennis Registry (PTR) Virginia Member of the Year for his efforts and the 2024 Professional Tennis Registry College Coach of the Year. He won the J. Roy Rodman Award as the Outstanding Coach in Virginia for the 2024-25 season. The 2024-25 season was another banner year for Manilla and the Monarchs. In the fall, Sofia Johnson earned her second trip to the NCAA Singles Tournament and advanced to the second round. Also in the fall, Kira Matushkina finished second at the ITF Women's Tour Tournament. In the spring, Manilla secured his 200th career win at Old Dominion with a 7-0 win over Richmond in the opener. The Monarchs delivered wins over a Power Four opponents in Kansas and Maryland, along with a win over No. 54 Princeton. The Monarchs finished off another undefeated Sun Belt regular season and breezed through the conference tournament, topping Marshall 4-1 in the final. ODU fell to Florida Atlantic in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, 4-1. Sofia Johnson earned Sun Belt Player of the Year honors for the second-straight year, while earning first team honors in singles and doubles. Kira Matushkina was named the league's Player to Watch and also earned first team honors in singles and doubles. Lidiia Rasskouskaia also was named first team in singles, while Johnson and Victoria Matasova and Matushkina and Marina Markina earned first team honors in doubles. Johnson, Matasova and Rasskouskaia were named CSC Academic All-District, while Johnson was the program's first CSC Academic All-American in 24 years. Manilla led ODU to an 18-6 record and regular season and Sun Belt Tournament Championships. It was ODU's second-straight Sun Belt Championship, fourth-straight overall conference title and fifth-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. In 2022-23, the Monarchs begin play in the Sun Belt Conference where ODU went undefeated in its first regular season action winning all 10 matches. ODU ended the year winners of 13 of its last 14 matches, including a Sun Belt Conference Tournament title with a 4-0 win over James Madison and a win in the first round of NCAA Tournament over South Carolina 4-2. ODU played its usual challenging non-conference schedule facing Penn State, Ohio State, Columbia, Wake Forest twice, Iowa State, Florida State, Princeton and Kansas. Tatsiana Sasnouskaya earned Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year honors and was joined on the first team All-Conference squad by Sofia Johnson. She also advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In doubles, Sasnouskaya and Johnson were first team All-Conference honorees and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In 2021-22, the Monarchs concluded their time in Conference USA by capturing their second straight C-USA Tournament crown with a thrilling 4-3 win over Charlotte. Old Dominion swept the tournament honors winning Outstanding Singles Player of the Championship and the Outstanding Doubles Team of the Championship. The Monarchs finished a perfect 12-0 at home and ran their home court winning streak to 37 in a row.  ODU won the ITA Kickoff Weekend Atlanta Regional advancing to the ITA Indoor Nationals where they recorded a win over Wisconsin. In the Atlanta Regional, they defeated 12th-ranked Georgia Tech and Ole Miss by 4-3 scores to advance. They finished the year with Yuliia Starodubtseva ranked 18th in singles, Alexandra Viktorovich 104th, Tatsiana Sasnouskaya 108th and the doubles team of Starodubtseva and Sasnouskaya ranked seventh. The Monarchs recorded a win in the NCAA tournament for the second straight year and had Starodubtseva represent the school at the NCAA Singles Championships, while her and Sasnouskaya represented ODU in the doubles tournament.In 2020-21, Manilla earned the C-USA Coach of the Year honors for the third consecutive season. 2021 marked the first time since 2010-11, that the program has had back-to-back conference players of the year. Manilla led Old Dominion to its second ever conference championship and first in 20 years. 2021 marked the Monarchs first time winning the Conference USA title. The 2021 NCAA Tournament appearance was the third in program history, as ODU picked up its first team win in program history in the NCAA Tournament after taking down No. 33 Arkansas by a 4-2 score in the First Round. Starodubtseva delivered ODU's first win in the NCAA Singles Tournament for the program since 2004. The highlights kept coming throughout the 2019-20 season, as the team finished with a No. 24 national ranking, while Yulia Starodubtseva and Alesya Yakubovich ended the year as the No. 7 ranked doubles tandem in the country, which is the highest doubles ranking in program history. No. 38 Holly Hutchinson was also nationally ranked in singles.Manilla’s team also dominated in the classroom, turning in the highest team GPA at ODU for the 2019-20 academic year (3.75), as well as for the spring semester (3.82). All seven of his student-athletes were named Scholar-Athletes by the ITA in 2020. In the fall of 2019, Starodubtseva/Yakubovich won the ITA Atlantic Region Doubles Championship, punching their ticket to the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships in Newport Beach, Cali., where they downed three nationally ranked tandems to ultimately advance to the Final Four of the Fall National Championships. In the 2018-19 season, Manilla earned his 100th career victory as a head coach (Jan. 13, 2019) and brought the program to its highest ever ranking of No. 19 in the ITA National Rankings, as well as received an at large bid to the NCAA tournament. His program has secured wins over national powerhouses such as Virginia, Tennessee and Baylor. Since his arrival, Manilla has guided a multitude of players to All-Conference First and Second team honors and national rankings. In addition, Manilla signed the highest rated recruit in program history, Borislava Botusharova. She was named the No. 6 ranked Newcomer/Freshman in the NCAA and was named the recipient of the 2015 ITA Atlantic Region Rookie of the Year. In addition to his success on the court, Manilla’s teams have excelled in the classroom. Each year since 2014, over half his team has been awarded the highest academic achievements and has been honored numerous times as an 2017-18 Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-Academic Team. "I was most impressed with Dom as an assistant tennis coach at ODU upon my arrival. He has only enhanced his tennis acumen with his stint at the John McEnroe Tennis Academy Coaching staff," ODU AD Dr. Wood Selig said. "Dom knows the ODU program and has great vision on improving our program to one of the nation's top women's programs in the country. He presented an extremely detailed plan for enhancing our recruiting, competitiveness, scheduling and fundraising that captured the attention and interest of the entire selection committee. We welcome Dom back as our new head women's tennis coach." Manilla, an ODU graduate and former men's tennis player, spent a year coaching at the prestigious John McEnroe Tennis Academy in New York. Manilla was a part of the day-to-day on court training and worked closely with McEnroe, Gilad Bloom (former ATP #56 ranking and Academy Director) and Fritz Buehning (former ATP #21 ranking and Assistant Academy Director). Before joining the McEnroe Academy, Manilla returned to his alma mater for three years as an assistant coach. Manilla joined the Monarchs in the fall of 2007 and helped ODU to a third-place finish in the Colonial Athletic Association and a ranking as high as No. 38 during the season, as well as an appearance in the conference tournament semifinals. The Monarchs reached the semi's again in 2009 and placed the doubles team of Aleksandr Seleznev and Tobias Fanselow in the NCAA Doubles Tournament, with Seleznev qualifying for the singles tournament. Dominic grew up in a tennis family as his father, Ron Manilla, is an ATP and WTA Tournament Director as well as a PTR International Master Professional and US Special Olympic National Coach. Dominic's brother, Josef Manilla, is the Assistant Coach of the Men’s Tennis Team at the University of Iowa. "I feel fortunate to have Dom return to his alma mater. I think he embodies the tangible and intangible qualities that will enable him as a head coach to foster a winning culture within our program," Associate Athletic Director and Committee Chair Bruce Stewart said. "He is a tireless individual that not only has the best interest of our program at heart, but truly bleeds blue and will be an asset to our campus community."

Associate Head Coach Yana Sokolenko begins her seventh season on the ODU Women's Tennis staff. The Monarchs are 99-35 in dual meets with Sokolenko on staff and she has helped lead the Monarchs to four-straight conference championships and five-straight NCAA Tournament appearances. In 2022-23, the Monarchs begin play in the Sun Belt Conference where ODU went undefeated in its first regular season action winning all 10 matches. ODU ended the year winners of 13 of its last 14 matches, including a Sun Belt Conference Tournament title with a 4-0 win over James Madison and a win in the first round of NCAA Tournament over South Carolina 4-2. ODU played its usual challenging non-conference schedule facing Penn State, Ohio State, Columbia, Wake Forest twice, Iowa State, Florida State, Princeton and Kansas. Tatsiana Sasnouskaya earned Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year honors and was joined on the first team All-Conference squad by Sofia Johnson. She also advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In doubles, Sasnouskaya and Johnson were first team All-Conference honorees and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.  In 2021-22, the Monarchs concluded their time in Conference USA by capturing their second straight C-USA Tournament crown with a thrilling 4-3 win over Charlotte. Old Dominion swept the tournament honors winning Outstanding Singles Player of the Championship and the Outstanding Doubles Team of the Championship. The Monarchs finished a perfect 12-0 at home and ran their home court winning streak to 37 in a row.  ODU won the ITA Kickoff Weekend Atlanta Regional advancing to the ITA Indoor Nationals where they recorded a win over Wisconsin. In the Atlanta Regional, they defeated 12th-ranked Georgia Tech and Ole Miss by 4-3 scores to advance. They finished the year with Yuliia Starodubtseva ranked 18th in singles, Alexandra Viktorovich 104th, Tatsiana Sasnouskaya 108th and the doubles team of Starodubtseva and Sasnouskaya ranked seventh. The Monarchs recorded a win in the NCAA tournament for the second straight year and had Starodubtseva represent the school at the NCAA Singles Championships, while her and Sasnouskaya represented ODU in the doubles tournament.In 2020-21, Sokolenko helped lead the Monarchs to its second ever conference championship and first in 20 years. 2021 marked the Monarchs first time winning the Conference USA title. The 2021 NCAA Tournament appearance was the third in program history, as ODU picked up its first team win in program history in the NCAA Tournament after taking down No. 33 Arkansas by a 4-2 score in the First Round. The 2020-21 season marked the first time since 2010-11, that the program has had back-to-back conference players of the year. Starodubtseva delivered ODU's first win in the NCAA Singles Tournament for the program since 2004.In 2019-20, the team finished with a No. 24 national ranking, while Yulia Starodubtseva and Alesya Yakubovich ended the year as the No. 7 ranked doubles tandem in the country, which is the highest doubles ranking in program history. In the fall of 2019, Starodubtseva/Yakubovich won the ITA Atlantic Region Doubles Championship, ultimately advancing all the way to the Final Four of the Fall National Championships.In her first season at ODU in 2018-19, Sokolenko helped the program to its highest ever ranking of No. 19 in the ITA National Rankings, while earning the program’s very first at large bid to the NCAA tournament. On Dec. 6, 2018, ODU Women’s Tennis Head Coach, Dominic Manilla, named Yana Sokolenko as the Associate Head Coach. Sokolenko spent three seasons as the Miami of Ohio Head Coach, where she led the RedHawks to back-to-back regular season MAC titles in 2015 and 2016, as well as won the MAC Tournament in 2015, punching a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Prior to coaching at Miami of Ohio, Sokolenko spent a total of seven years as the Associate Head Coach at VCU. She won the 2006-07 NCAA Division I East Region Assistant Coach of the Year Award, after helping steer the Rams to the best season in school history, finishing No. 12 in the national rankings after advancing to the NCAA Quarterfinals. In 2006, 2010 and 2012, the Rams won CAA conference titles. In 2013 and 2014, they won Atlantic 10 conference championships. In all, Sokolenko has helped lead her respective teams to 14 NCAA Tournaments (’06, ’07, ’08, ’09, ’10, ’11, ’12, ’13, ’14, ’15, '19, '21, '22, '23). Prior to her coaching career, she played tennis at VCU from 1999-2002, where she was instrumental in the Rams advancing to the 2002 NCAA Quarterfinals. While in Richmond, she was an All-American Scholar Athlete (2000) and Dean’s List recipient (1999, 2000, 2002 and 2003). Sokolenko received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science (3.7 GPA) in December of 2001 and then earned her Masters of Arts degree in Economics (3.9 GPA) in May of 2005. On a professional level, Sokolenko was ranked as high as No. 529 in the world (WTA Tour). In 1996-97, she was a member of the Belarus National Fed Team. Sokolenko also spent a year managing her own small tennis academy, Team GP, in Marbella, Spain. Paul Kostin on Yana Sokolenko:(Kostin has been named USPTA Mid-Atlantic Coach of the Year 12 times, has been chosen as the ITA Regional Coach of the Year four times and was one of eight finalists for the ITA's National Coach of the Year in 1993 and 1997. He was named the 2000 National College Coach of the Year by the USPTA and was named conference Coach of the Year 14 times. He has compiled a 1,155-423 record in 37 seasons at VCU and Arkansas-Little Rock, and has guided his teams to 41 conference titles and 37 NCAA Tournament appearances.) “First of all, she the greatest! Not only as a coach, but also as a teacher, recruiter, leader and person who can motivate, push and encourage players, so they can reach their highest potential. I also need to say that she is great when dealing with not only the players, but also parents and administrators.”“In conclusion, she was instrumental to the success that VCU women’s tennis had as long as she was here and when she was running the show. ODU, you are lucky to have her; and believe me, she will make everybody happy!”“I’m excited to work with Coach Sokolenko,” said Manilla. “Her previous experience as a head coach and her renowned reputation as a tenacious recruiter will immediately add value to our already strong program.”