CHARLOTTE, NC – The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) announces its 2022 Women’s Tennis All-Conference Team and superlatives, as voted by the CIAA Women’s Tennis Coaches Association and Sports Information Directors Association. This year’s team is led by CIAA Player of the Year Afruica Gentle of Bowie State University and CIAA Rookie of the Year Anja Antonijevic of Shaw University.
Gentle, a native of Georgetown, Guyana, finished the regular season unbeaten with a perfect 8-0 record playing in the no. 1 singles position, including a perfect 6-0 record against CIAA competition. The sophomore also teamed with All-CIAA selection Kayla Lowery as the Bulldogs no. 1 doubles team to finish with a 9-1 overall record and 8-0 versus conference opponents. Gentle helped lead Bowie State to their first CIAA Northern Division title in school history.
Freshman Anja Antonijevic finished her first year of competition on one of the top doubles’ teams in the conference. Playing in the no. 2 position, the Nis, Serbia native partnered with teammate Sevval Ozseker to go unbeaten in conference play at 8-0 (14-1 overall) while posting impressive non-conference wins throughout the season to include a victory over the University of Charleston (WV), one of the top teams in the Atlantic Region. Antonijevic also finished 7-0 (14-1 overall) in the CIAA in singles play. For her efforts, Antonijevic was also a 2022 All-CIAA selection.
Sunday Enitan of Shaw University was named CIAA Women’s Tennis Coach of the Year for the fourth time in five seasons. Enitan led the Lady Bears to a perfect 10-0 record in conference play and won their 12th consecutive CIAA Southern Division title. Enitan and the Lady Bears currently rank ninth in the Atlantic Region with a 15-3 overall record and will be the no. 1 seed in the 2022 CIAA Women’s Tennis Championship (April 26, 29-30). Enitan is an 11-time recipient of the CIAA Women’s Tennis Coach of the Year award.
Shaw led the conference with five All-CIAA selections followed by Johnson C. Smith with four and Bowie State with three. Joining Gentle, Lowery, and Antonijevic on the All-CIAA team are Bowie State’s Tamia Byrom, Johnson C. Smith’s Chengeto Moyana, Taylor Proffett-Brooks, and Kyndall Ragins along with Shaw’s Kundai Manyonga, Michelle Blaha, Chetna Kumari, and Dana Moreno. Manyonga was the lone selection to repeat as an All-CIAA selection from 2019, which was the last time the conference recognized honorees due to cancelled competition in 2020 and 2021.
2022 All-CIAA Women’s Tennis Team
Afruica Gentle, Bowie State Tamia Byrom, Bowie State Kayla Lowery, Bowie State Chengeto Moyana, Johnson C. Smith Taylor Proffett-Brooks, Johnson C. Smith Kyndall Ragins, Johnson C. Smith Shay’Tonya Missick, Johnson C. Smith Kundai Manyonga, Shaw Anja Antonijevic, Shaw Michelle Blaha, Shaw Chetna Kumari, Shaw Dana Moreno, Shaw
Player of the Year – Afruica Gentle, Bowie State Rookie of the Year – Anja Antonijevic, Shaw Coach of the Year – Sunday Enitan, Shaw
