2026 Women’s Tennis Season Preview
A new era for Southwestern College women's tennis will begin with the 2026 season as first year head coach Michelle Okhremchuk embarks on the journey of awakening a sleepy program (12-31 post-covid) and restoring Jaguar tennis to prominence.
Okhremchuk herself had an accomplished career as a tennis athlete, winning at the highest level of intercollegiate athletics to now coaching college tennis. The experience offers a realistic perspective of balancing a natural desire to achieve competitive success with maximizing player potential. While the head coach remains pivotal, modernizing a program to the demands of contemporary tennis training to shape player identity and performance as well as tailor practice routines to improve players' skills will be critical to future success where margins of outcomes can be razor-thin. The challenge and opportunity are to take incremental steps to 'level up' and advance the program while changing the culture and establishing an expectation of winning. Of course, winning is at the forefront – yet there is work that lies ahead in order to assemble a roster that can compete for championships.
Okhremchuk begins operations in a new tennis facility that will offer an unparalleled year-round training for players. The facility represents a best-in-class collegiate tennis complex, equipped to enhance the student-athlete experience, elevate recruiting, and expand programming. The new SWC tennis center will launch the Jaguar tennis program and the student-athletes developing within them – forward.
The JAGS
Right now everyone will contribute and get a fair amount of court time. This season's lineup – in both singles and doubles will be working to be more competitive in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference. The first couple months of the spring will be great for growth and development with the goal of playing their best tennis in April.
Paulina Hernandez and Liram Barraza return for their second spring season and first year players Jennifer Angula, Andrea Ramirez, Kimberly Granados, Sahara Rodriguez Noguez, and Ingrid Martinez will make their debuts. Southwestern will look to the formidable core of Jennifer, Paulina and Andrea to stabilize the lineup and a collection of individual talent will round out the 2026 roster.
2026 Season Schedule
Southwestern women's tennis looks to establish early confidence and competitiveness without unnecessary travel fatigue. The Jags could surprise opponents in non-conference and conference competition, especially if the roster talent can swing tight singles and doubles matches under pressure. Southwestern jumps right into a trio of matches against opponents with combined 2025 records of 26-14. The Jags are set to get underway at Rio Hondo College (Jan. 29) in Whittier, CA. The Jaguars continue non-league play versus established contenders with a home match against Santa Barabara (Feb. 7), followed by a road contest at Riverside (Feb. 12).
Southwestern returns to Chula Vista to host PCAC newcomer College of the Desert (Feb. 17), the first of ten conference duals versus Grossmont, San Diego City, Imperial Valley and Mt. San Jacinto.
This year, Southwestern will host the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference Singles and Doubles Championships. The tournament will take place April 2-3.
Season Opener: Thursday, January 29, at Rio Hondo College (2:00 pm)
Home Opener: Saturday, February 7, vs. Santa Barbara (2:00 pm)
PCAC Opener: Tuesday, February 17, vs. College of the Desert (2:00 pm)
PCAC Championships: Thursday, April 2 and Friday, April 3 (Southwestern)