Awards & Honors USC Upstate Tennis Conference Players of the Year Missy O’Neill 1992 Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year
Anna Novo 2008 Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Year
Anna Novo, a 5-5 Caracas, Venezuela, native, led USC Upstate into the Division I era in style. As a junior, she set nearly every school record in site, winning 29 singles matches and 52 combined matches. She won tournament singles titles at the USC Upstate Fall Tournament and the Wolfpack Invitational in the fall.
Missy O’Neill, a native of Colts Neck, N.J., helped the Lady Rifles to make their mark in their first year in the Peach Belt Conference. O’Neill led the Rifles to an undefeated 12-0 regular season. O’Neill was the team’s leader, playing at the No. 1 slot in both singles and doubles, finishing 18-3 in singles and 15-2 in doubles play. She finished the season ranked 28th in the Division II rankings, helping her earn both Peach Belt Player of the Year and all-conference accolades.
To follow that, Novo, in the spring, Novo earned a pair of A-Sun Player of the Week awards and she finished the year a perfect 11-0 mark at the No. 1 position in A-Sun play, leading the Spartans to the first outright A-Sun title in school history.
USC Upstate Tennis Athletic Hall of Fame Members
Kasper Nielson ’96
Martha Cobo ’92
Kristina Ribicic ’03
Kasper Nielsen was a standout player on the men’s tennis team for two seasons, playing from 1994-96. He played primarily at the No. 1 singles and doubles positions throughout his career and helped lead USCS into national prominence.
Martha Cobo was a four-year member of the women’s tennis program at USCS from 1988-92. The epitome of the student-athlete, she was a Volvo Tennis Scholar Athlete in 1991-92 and earned the Peach Belt Athletic Conference Academic Award for having the highest academic average among female athletes. In addition to her playing days at USCS, she represented Colombia, her native country, in the World Junior Tennis Tournament.
Kristina Ribicic is the second person affiliated with the women’s tennis program to be elected to the Athletics Hall of Fame at USC Upstate.
Class of 2004
Class of 2001
A two-year letterwinner for USC Spartanburg, Kasper Nielsen, a Denmark native, helped keep the Rifles in the Division II national conversation, leading the team to two national rankings of 12th in the nation. Nielsen, who transferred from Los Angeles Pierce Community College, posted a 19-8 singles record to finish the season ranked eighth in the nation as a junior. In addition to his excellence in tennis, he was an outstanding student. He was named to the Peach Belt Conference Honor Roll both years and was a Dean’s List student. He was also named a GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-District scholar.
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While her playing days at USCS are worthy of recognition, Cobo’s accomplishments since leaving the campus are just as noteworthy. She has served as a tennis coach at the prestigious Bolletieri Sports Academy. She served as the Director of the Mental Efficiency Program at the Academy and has collaborated with many world renown sport psychologists on performance enhancement issues. Cobo left the Bolletieri Sports Academy and now serves as the Director of Mental Conditioning Program at the Leadbetter Junior Golf Academy in Bradenton, FL. In addition, she also is the Director of International Outreach - PERFORMAX and is a mental health counselor. A member of the American Psychological Association, she developed an international educational curriculum for coaches, athletes, and parents, while counseling several elite athletes from around the world
Class of 2008
Ribicic is the first honoree connected with the resurgence of the women’s tennis program. She played for the team from 1999-2003. She joined Marcela Gonzalez and Martina Stoklaskova to form the foundation which the program has used to achieve tremendous success in recent years. It was her leadership, in particular, that helped form a cohesive unit for four years. It was her play on the court that helped bring success to the team. Prior to Ribicic’s arrival, the women’s program had posted three wins in the previous three seasons combined. Ribicic helped the team make history in 2003. She finished the year 16-3 in singles play and 20-3 in doubles action to help the team win a school record 15 matches and advance to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time in eight years and just the second time in program history. The tournament appearance came just four years after the program posted a 2-13 record in 1999. Ribicic ranks fifth all-time in combined wins with 87 victories in singles and doubles play. Her 46 singles wins marks the fifth-highest total in school history. She also ranks fifth all-time with 41 doubles victories. In addition to her ability on the tennis court, Ribicic was a four-time member of the Peach Belt Conference Presidential Honor Roll.