BENTONVILLE, Ark. – The Great American Conference announced its all-conference teams and superlative award winners on Thursday night following the opening round of action at the league's tournament and among those honored for Southern Arkansas were four all-conference performers, two GAC Distinguished Scholar-Athletes and head coach Greg Owen who was named GAC Coach of the Year for the second time in his six years leading the Muleriders. Senior Greta Wallin, sophomore Annika Berrendorf and freshmen Amelie Gindl and Josie Holderbach received all-league plaudits with the first three appearing on the first team, while Wallin and junior Inna Serpukhova were named GAC Distinguished Scholar-Athletes.

Greg Owen
GAC Coach of the Year
 
Owen took a young squad, one that consistently included a senior, two sophomores and three freshmen in SAU's top six, and not just competed, but flat out dominated for much of the 2024 spring. For the second-straight season, SAU grabbed a piece of the regular season title giving Owen his third regular season championship since 2018-19. The Muleriders enter postseason play at 19-4 overall with the nation's #15 ranking. SAU has ranked inside the ITA's Top 25 in nine of the past ten weeks including eight-straight weeks inside the top 15 nationally. The Muleriders finished the regular season with a 6-2 record against nationally-ranked foes. This spring, four Muleriders earned GAC Player of the Week honors and SAU finished 7-0 at home on the Live Oak Tennis Courts to push their home record under Owen to 32-10 since 2018-19.
 
Greta Wallin
First Team All-GAC
GAC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete
 
In her final year as a Mulerider, the Helsingborg, Sweden native has won 11 times in singles action this season with three big spring singles victories over GAC opposition. Operating from the top spot in the lineup, Wallin defeated Harding's Grace Dodd (6-1, 7-6 [7-4]), Southeastern Oklahoma's All-GAC first teamer Vanessa Nitu (6-3, 5-7, 7-6 [7-3]) and Arkansas Tech's All-GAC first teamer Monica Balau (6-2, 6-1). She was named the GAC Player of the Week on March 13.
 
Wallin teamed up with Berrendorf in doubles play and the pair has dominated. Ranked #6 in the country entering postseason action, the two have won 24 doubles matches with 15 coming this spring at line one. The two have held been ranked inside the top 12 nationally in all eight ITA rankings with seven top 10 rankings which includes a program-best doubles rating of fourth nationally. The pair posted a 4-1 record against GAC foes with wins against Southeastern Oklahoma (Hosking, Gonzalez), Arkansas Tech (Balau, Griffiths), Henderson State (Kozlova, Kamoe) and Ouachita (Crocker, Zamora). The doubles group won the GAC Flight 1 doubles title last fall defeating Harding's Romane Britt and Karli Roux for the championship.
 
Wallin holds a 3.77 GPA in Mass Communication: Mass Media.
 
Annika Berrendorf
First Team All-GAC
 
There was no slump in the sophomore campaign for Annika Berrendorf. Last season's GAC Freshman of the Year, Berrendorf won a team-best 22 singles matches, 16 this spring, which included a winning streak of 14 matches, and she has spent time nationally-ranked inside the ITA top 75. A GAC Player of the Week recipient this spring, the Dortmund, Germany native went a perfect 5-0 against GAC foes this spring from line two. Berrendorf defeated Harding's All-GAC first teamer Karli Roux (7-5, 6-2), Southeastern Oklahoma's All-GAC first teamer Georgia Hosking (7-5, 7-5), Arkansas Tech's Elis Gergel (4-6, 7-5 [10-3]), Henderson State's All-GAC first teamer Kristina Kozlova (6-2, 6-2) and Ouachita's Austynn Crocker (7-6 [7-3], 3-6, 6-2). For doubles success, see Greta Wallin.
 
Amelie Gindl
First Team All-GAC
 
As a collegiate rookie, Gindl provided an immediate impact for Southern Arkansas in year one. The Mönchhof, Austria native has won 20 singles matches this season with a 17-3 mark this spring. She has claimed victories from three different lines with the majority of her damage being done at line three where she is 14-2 this spring. A two-time GAC Player of the Week (Feb. 28 & March 20), Gindl posted a 4-1 singles record against GAC foes beating Harding's Alexia Zarate Valdez (5-7, 6-2, 6-1), Arkansas Tech's Madelina Amil Silva (6-1, 6-4), Henderson State's Angela Georgieva (6-1, 6-1) and Ouachita's Natalia Zamora (6-4, 1-6, 6-1). Of the six nationally-ranked teams defeated by the Muleriders, Gindl posted a 6-0 mark in singles play and she carried a winning streak of 15 matches at one point during the season. Additionally, in three set matches she went 7-2 this spring with an impressive 5-0 mark when dropping the opening set. For doubles success, see Josie Holderbach.
 
Josie Holderbach
Second Team All-GAC
 
In her first season as a Mulerider, Holderbach has won 19 singles matches which includes 3-1 mark against GAC opponents. She defeated Harding's Romane Britt (6-4, 6-1), Arkansas Tech's Sofia Beggiatto (6-2, 6-2) and Henderson State's Jenna Bohnert (6-1, 3-6, 6-4). The German won her first dozen spring singles matches with only two reaching a third set. In doubles play, Holderbach and fellow all-league honoree Amelie Gindl have been victorious 11 times as a pair with GAC wins over Harding (Pecsi, Plunkett) and Arkansas Tech (Krite, Amil Silva).
 
Inna Serpukhova
GAC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete
 
Serpukhova holds a 3.75 GPA in Psychology. This season, the Kharkiv, Ukraine native has won five singles matches, which includes one over a conference opponent (OUA's Ali May; 6-3, 6-3) this spring and three against league foes last fall. She has grabbed nine doubles victories this season with six coming this spring with three different teammates. Most recently, Serpukhova and teammate Roksana Kokocha won against Ouachita (Kholdarova, Gaston) at line two and Nebraska-Kearney (Becerra, Ranaivo) at line three.
 
Southern Arkansas received a first round bye in the league tournament by virtue of the program's second-straight and third overall Great American Conference regular season championship. The Muleriders will match up against #3 Henderson State in the semifinal round on Friday at 1 p.m. in Bentonville. SAU and HSU met in Arkadelphia on April 6 with the Muleriders winning 4-3.