Radford University’s head tennis coach Rob Bareford announced Tuesday afternoon the addition of Melissa Ifidzhen to the program for the upcoming season.
“Melissa is going to contribute right away for us in singles and doubles,” said Bareford. “We are excited for her to arrive on campus.”
Ifidzhen joins the Highlanders after transferring from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) with two years of eligibility left.
At VCU, Ifidzhen accumulated 31 singles victories and 42 doubles victories. She helped guide the team to back-to-back A-10 championships and also picked up an ITA Scholar-Athlete award her freshman year. Prior to her college career, Ifidzhen had a long list of accolades from tournaments she played in including success in the Malta ITF under-18, the Ozerov Cup ITF under-18, and the Fergana Cup ITF under-18.
She started for the Nigerian team in 2015 in the All-African games and was a bronze medalist. She also won the singles and doubles competition in the Championship of Nigeria in both 2015 and 2016.
Ifidzhen is the first of the Highlanders’ additions of this season with more to be announced soon. She will contribute immediately for a team looking to build on its shortened season in early 2020 when it compiled a 9-3 record and went 2-2 in conference competition.