2026 LEC Women’s Tennis Postseason Awards

10/29/2026 2:00:00 PM

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – UMass Boston’s Zainab Patel was named the 2026 Little East Conference (LEC) Women’s Tennis Singles Player of the Year and joined teammate Tatiana Malone as the Doubles Team of the Year, highlighting the conference’s postseason awards announced Thursday.

Bridgewater State’s Violetta Babichev earned Rookie of the Year honors, while the Bears’ Dave Purpura and UMass Boston’s Malcolm Neville shared Coach of the Year recognition.

Patel earned First Team All-LEC honors in singles and doubles, with Malone joining her on the First Team in doubles and earning Second Team recognition in singles. The pair accounted for all three of UMass Boston’s All-Conference selections.

Babichev collected Second Team All-LEC singles honors in addition to her Rookie of the Year award. Bridgewater State placed Aislyn Kelliher and Morgan Smith on the First Team in both singles and doubles. Ava Alves joined Babichev on the Second Team in singles, while the Bears’ pairings of Alves and Sam Bettencourt, and Ana Eccles and Maeve Snyder, earned Second Team doubles recognition.

Rhode Island College had three First Team singles selections in Haylie Peacock, Arianna DeThomas and Emilia Houwers. Peacock also earned First Team doubles honors alongside Faith Owren, who was selected to the Second Team in singles. DeThomas and Houwers rounded out the Anchorwomen’s selections with Second Team doubles recognition.

UMass Dartmouth’s Magali Breur and Mya Dean each earned Second Team All-LEC singles honors.

The complete list of major award winners, All-Conference selections and Sportsmanship Team honorees follows.

2026 LEC Women’s Tennis Major Awards

Singles Player of the Year: Zainab Patel, UMass Boston
Doubles Team of the Year: Zainab Patel / Tatiana Malone, UMass Boston
Rookie of the Year: Violetta Babichev, Bridgewater State
Co-Coach of the Year: Dave Purpura, Bridgewater State
Co-Coach of the Year: Malcolm Neville, UMass Boston

First Team All-LEC

Singles

  • Aislyn Kelliher, Bridgewater State

  • Morgan Smith, Bridgewater State

  • Zainab Patel, UMass Boston

  • Haylie Peacock, Rhode Island College

  • Arianna DeThomas, Rhode Island College

  • Emilia Houwers, Rhode Island College

Doubles

  • Aislyn Kelliher / Morgan Smith, Bridgewater State

  • Tatiana Malone / Zainab Patel, UMass Boston

  • Faith Owren / Haylie Peacock, Rhode Island College

Second Team All-LEC

Singles

  • Ava Alves, Bridgewater State

  • Violetta Babichev, Bridgewater State

  • Tatiana Malone, UMass Boston

  • Magali Breur, UMass Dartmouth

  • Mya Dean, UMass Dartmouth

  • Faith Owren, Rhode Island College

Doubles

  • Ava Alves / Sam Bettencourt, Bridgewater State

  • Ana Eccles / Maeve Snyder, Bridgewater State

  • Arianna DeThomas / Emilia Houwers, Rhode Island College

Sportsmanship Team

  • Ana Eccles, Bridgewater State

  • Delilah Castro, UMass Boston

  • Alyson Tobias, UMass Dartmouth

  • Sofia Orama, Plymouth State

  • Ivy Par, Rhode Island College

  • Jalysa Noriega, Salem State

  • Adia Ameswright, Southern Maine

  • Maggie McKearin, VTSU Castleton

  • Keira Hammond, WestConn