The McNeese Cowgirls, champions of the 2026 Southland Conference women’s tennis regular season, will begin their pursuit of a second Southland Conference (SLC) Tournament title when they face No. 8 seed New Orleans at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 19 at the Thompson Family Tennis Center in Beaumont, Texas.
This tournament marks an important opportunity for McNeese, which finished the regular season with a program-best record of 21-1 and went undefeated in conference play with a perfect 9-0 mark. The team’s strong performance has made them the winningest squad in program history and earned them their first outright SLC regular season title.
Earlier this year, McNeese defeated New Orleans by a score of 5-2 during their regular-season matchup on March 30. If victorious against New Orleans in Sunday’s quarterfinals, the Cowgirls will advance to face either No. 4 Stephen F. Austin or No. 5 Incarnate Word in Monday’s semifinal round.
The championship match is scheduled for Tuesday, April 21 at 2 p.m., and will be streamed live on ESPN+. Several individual players have contributed significantly to the team’s success: Ana Hollweg led singles wins with twenty victories; Elena Morales completed conference play undefeated (8-0) and is currently riding a fourteen-match singles win streak; and three doubles teams posted double-digit win totals during the season.
Head coach Sonia Carlson was named SLC “Coach of the Year” following these achievements. Three players—Ana Hollweg (No.4 singles), Erica Hagi (No.5 singles), and Elena Morales (No.6 singles)—were selected for All-SLC first team honors in singles competition, while two doubles pairs also earned spots on the All-SLC first team.
Looking ahead, McNeese aims to capture its second-ever SLC Tournament title after previously winning it in 2018.
