An All-American in both singles and doubles play, Sonia Smagina was also named the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Player of the Year and was a first-team all-conference selection in both singles and doubles. Image courtesy of Sacramento State Athletics

SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) - Former Kansas and Washburn University standout Sonia Smagina joins the California State University, Sacramento women's tennis program as an assistant coach, head coach Sophie Breault announced Sept. 15.

The former assistant coach, Jack Maddocks, resigned to take the associate head coach position at Kansas for 2025-26.

"I'm thrilled to welcome Sonia to our coaching staff," Breault said. "She's a highly-motivated, driven and competitive coach who brings valuable experience from her playing career at Kansas and her coaching tenure at Washburn University. She knows what it takes to compete at the highest level and will help elevate our program and develop our student-athletes."

Smagina joins the Hornets after serving as an assistant tennis professional at the Eugene Swim & Tennis Club in Oregon for the last nine months following a decorated collegiate career with the Jayhawks and Ichabods.

The Penza, Russia native rose through the junior ranks to earn a spot on the roster at Kansas, where she was a four-year letter winner from 2018 to 2022. She was named to the All-Big 12 Freshman Team following her debut season when she finished a combined 17-4 in singles and 16-5 in doubles play, also picking up second-team all-conference honors in seconds and first-team doubles laurels.

The Jayhawks won the Big 12 Conference Tournament that year, eventually advancing to the National Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament Round of 16 at Stanford before falling.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Smagina posted a 7-4 singles record at the No. 1 spot in the Jayhawks' lineup as a sophomore, including posting three wins over nationally ranked opponents before the season came to a premature end. 

The next season, Smagina split time at the No. 1 and No. 2 singles positions, finishing 7-11 overall while winning five matches in doubles play, then followed that up the next year by winning 16 matches overall, 10 of those during the spring season at the No. 3 spot in the lineup, while posting 12 more in doubles competition and helping Kansas to another National Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament berth.

After graduating with her degree in liberal arts and sciences, Smagina completed her final season of eligibility at Division II Washburn University in nearby Topeka, Kan., in 2022-23, posting a 30-3 singles record and a 26-5 mark in doubles play, eventually earning a No. 1 national ranking in singles and ranked as high as No. 5 in the country in doubles. 

The 30 singles victories were the second-most in the history of the program at the time, while the 26 doubles triumphs were the sixth-most in a season. 

An All-American in both singles and doubles play, Smagina was also named the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Player of the Year and was a first-team all-conference selection in both singles and doubles. She was also the Division II Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Cup national runner-up during the fall, won the ITA Central Region Division II singles championship, and was a finalist for the region's doubles crown.

Following her playing career, Smagina served one season as a graduate assistant coach at Washburn for both the men's and women's programs while concurrently pursuing her MBA degree. Smagina helped the Ichabod women finish 20-6 overall for the program's first 20-win season since 2018-19, with seven victories over ranked opposition and a third consecutive trip to the National Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament. The team reached as high as No. 3 in the national rankings, the highest in program history.

On the men's side, Smagina helped the Washburn squad to a 20-5 overall record and an undefeated MIAA mark, making an appearance at the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II national championships for the second straight season and advancing to the round of 16. During the fall, the Ichabods claimed a regional singles title, the program's first ITA Cup national title in doubles, and a berth in the Division II fall national championships.

Smagina compiled 12 singles and 23 career doubles wins on the International Tennis Federation pro circuit, ranked as high as No. 1,012 in the world in singles and No. 576 in doubles.