After spending four years at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, graduate student and women’s tennis athlete Tanya Sasnouskaya has found her new home in Austin. Announced on June 8 by Texas women’s tennis head coach Howard Joffe, the team has officially signed Sasnouskaya, who will join the Longhorns for their 2023-24 season.

Originally from Minsk, Belarus, Sasnouskaya stood as the No. 19-ranked Belarus female player and had a dominant season right out of the gate her freshman year, finishing with an 8–3 and 7–2 record in singles and doubles, respectively.

During her sophomore year in 2021, Sasnouskaya finished with a 14–2 singles record and was awarded the Conference USA Freshman of the Year. As the second highest ranked singles player in Conference USA All-Freshman Team, Sasnouskaya also played for the All-Conference USA Singles and Doubles First Team.

Sasnouskaya, who has a bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity, finished her junior and senior year with the Monarchs with an overall Universal Tennis Rating of 10.68. During her junior year, Sasnouskaya advanced to Round 16 at the NCAA Championships with a 33–7 doubles record, along with Yuliia Starodubtseva. The duo finished at No. 7 in the ITA national doubles rankings and won second place in the ITA All-American and ITA Fall National Championship games. Sasnouskaya finished her junior year ranked No. 108 in the ITA national singles rankings.

As a senior during the 2022-23 season, Sasnouskaya advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championship, ending the year ranked No. 25 and No. 26 in ITA national singles and doubles rankings. At the Sun Belt Conference, she won the honor of Sun Belt Player of the Year, a title voted on by 14 women’s tennis head coaches.

Sasnouskaya finished out her senior year with the Monarchs with a 22–6 record in singles and a 20–8 record in doubles, and now looks to help the Longhorns in claiming the Big 12 tournament title for the fourth consecutive year.

“Tanya’s inclusion to our program makes us once again a formidable force,” Joffe said. “She has the passion, capacity and application to keep improving. As a coach, I see the opportunity here in our program to help her make another consequential jump to be able to play pro tennis after her graduate work is done.”