Trio of UW Cowgirls earn All-Mountain West honors

LARAMIE, Wyo. — Three University of Wyoming Cowgirl tennis standouts were recently named to the 2026 All-Mountain West team. Earning spots on the all-conference team are Silver Bijlsma, Violetta Borodina and Anastasiia Kochelaevskaia.

The three athletes were all named to the All-Mountain West Singles Team, while Bijlsma and Borodina were also named as an All-Mountain West Doubles tandem. Three student-athletes being named to the singles squad is a program record for a single season. This also marks the second consecutive season that both Borodina and Kochelaevskaia were named to the team, and the third time that Borodina was named all-doubles, each time with a different partner.

Bijlsma was sensational in her freshman campaign at UW, and her 24 wins is tied for the fourth-most wins in a single season in program history. Playing all her matches at No. 1 and No. 2, she went 6–4 in Mountain West action this season, playing mostly at the second spot. All six of her victories came via straight sets.

Borodina, who is in the top 25 in program history for career singles wins, went 16–9 overall in the 2025–26 season. During league action, she played exclusively at the No. 3 position and posted a 6–2 mark. Borodina, who was also leading in two matches that were abandoned, had four straight-set wins in 2026 during MW play. As a doubles team with Bijlsma, the duo went 17–9 overall and 11–6 in dual action this season. The tandem had four doubles wins during Mountain West action. A Wyoming doubles team has been named All-Mountain West every season under Head Coach Dean Clower.

Kochelaevskaia, who played at the No. 1 position this season, tallied 18 wins in total. She had four league wins this season and was leading in a fifth before the match was abandoned. The sophomore recorded three straight-set wins during conference play in 2026.

The trio and the rest of the Cowgirls open Mountain West Championship play at 2 p.m. Wednesday against New Mexico.