Going .500 in a year is expected from coaches and players in any sport, meaning the team has the same amount of wins as losses. The Miami University tennis team achieved this with an overall record of 10-10.
Yet, going .900 is almost unheard of. Miami tennis also achieved this, ending conference play with a record of 9-1 in the Mid-American Conference (MAC).
This record was highlighted at the end of the season, as Head Coach Ricardo Rosas was named the MAC Women’s Tennis Coach of the Year. This is Rosas fourth time accomplishing this, winning MAC Coach of the Year in 2019 and 2022, as well as in 2010 when he served as Miami’s interim head coach.
Playing at the rate the RedHawks did all year in the conference makes the first round exit in the MAC tournament hit extra hard.
Sophomore student athlete Lauren Joyce finished the season with a singles record of 22-11, recording a 9-1 singles record in MAC regular season play. Joyce attributes a lot of ups and downs to the 2025 season.
“This year has been eventful to say the least,” Joyce says, “Losing matches in the beginning made the team panic. It was a lot of ups and downs until we found our rhythm later in the season.”
Miami started the year with six straight losses to teams outside of the MAC. According to Joyce, the Women’s Tennis team was not in a good place to start the season. Some of the team was dealing with injury, while the healthy athletes were not winning their matches.
This losing streak ended after the RedHawks traveled to Dayton, Ohio Sunday, March 2 to battle the University of Dayton. According to Joyce, winning 7-0 in a match outside the conference turned the entire season around.
“We had a really bad start,” Joyce says. “People weren’t happy, nobody was feeling good about the season when it started. But then we got a win. I feel like that turned our entire season around. When we went into conference play we were an entirely different team.”
Lovisa Valentinsson is a sophomore from Malmo, Sweden. Valentinsson recorded a 10-5 doubles record in 2025, mostly playing alongside Freshman teammate Avery Voss. She says she was surprised at the results of the MAC Tournament.
“We started really well and won the doubles point,” Valentisson says, “Which is something we didn’t have both times we played them in the regular season. So obviously I was hopeful going into the singles matches, unfortunately we could not finish the job.”
The MAC Tournament started Thursday, April 24 in Toledo, Ohio. The RedHawks were made a first seed and took on fourth seeded Buffalo. The RedHawks lost and were eliminated from the tournament, an unexpected result as Miami defeated Buffalo twice in the regular season.
For the 2026 season, the MAC is changing the women’s tennis schedule entirely, as The University of Massachusetts will be added to the MAC Conference beginning July 1. This ensures that the RedHawks will only play other teams once during the regular season instead of multiple times a year.
Joyce and Valentisson said they are excited about this change. Valentisson said she wants to face each team only once in the regular season, only facing the same team again if they were to meet the RedHawks in the MAC Tournament.
“This is the last year we are playing teams twice, and I’m so glad,” Valentisson says. “With UMass joining we won’t play teams over and over like in previous years. I really disliked playing Buffalo three times this year and Toledo three times last year.”
The 2026 Miami Women’s Tennis schedule will release sometime next academic year.
