Norfolk State University Athletics

Former Norfolk State tennis player Ana Popovic will enter her third year as an assistant coach with the NSU tennis programs during the 2021-22 academic year, with the Spartans coming off a pair of division titles and an overall successful spring 2021 campaign.
 
Both the Spartan men’s and women’s programs captured the MEAC Northern Division title in 2021 in her second year as assistant coach, the second regular season crowns for both since joining the league. The Spartan men had four All-MEAC honorees, including Player of the Year Andres Alcaraz and fellow first-team player Federico Rebecchini. The women earned three all-conference nods, the most in program history, including first-team All-MEAC honoree Paula Fortuno.
 
The Spartan men advanced to the MEAC Championship final for the second time ever and had a winning record for the second time in seven years. The women qualified for the semifinals for the first time since 2008 and had their first winning record since 2013.
 
Popovic also served as a volunteer assistant coach for one year in 2019. The Spartan women went 4-1 in the MEAC that year and were awarded the Northern Division crown. Naz Karagoz become the first women’s MEAC Player of the Year in program history, and she and men’s player Vini Da Silva were named first-team all-conference. The Spartan men placed second in the division in 2019 as well.
 
The 2020 season, her first as an assistant coach, was cancelled after March 12 – before MEAC play – due to the coronavirus outbreak.
 
Popovic spent five years with the program as a player between 2013 and 2018 and provided valuable leadership on and off the courts.
 
She earned 20 singles wins in her career and finished with a winning record in MEAC competition at 8-7. Off the courts, the Belgrade, Serbia native received NSU Athletics Director’s Honor Roll recognition six times, was voted team captain prior to the 2017-18 season, and was a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).
 
A kinesiotherapy major, Popovic graduated from NSU in 2018. She currently serves as a tennis director at Cape Henry Racquet Club and is a certified tennis coach by the Professional Tennis Registry.