Valeria Nikolaev enters her first season as an assistant with Jacksonville State’s women’s tennis program during the 2023-24 campaign.
Before joining the staff at Jax State, Nikolaev spent two seasons as a student assistant at Mississippi State University. During that time, the Nesher, Israel, native helped the Bulldogs to 22 victories, including a 4-2 triumph over Missouri in the opening round of the 2022 SEC Championship. Furthermore, she served as a coach during the offseason at Pretty Brook Tennis Club in Princeton, N.J., from 2022-23.
Nikolaev was a juniors standout in Asia, winning the Israeli National Championship for the U10, U12, and U14 age groups. She achieved career-high rankings of 1,032 in singles and 862 in doubles play and had a top juniors ranking of 557. Along with several strong 10k and G5 performances in Israel, Greece, and Turkey, Nikolaev posted a quarterfinal finish in the U14 Nike Junior Tour International Tournament and had a run to the semifinals of the 2017 Israeli National Women’s Championship.
She signed with Mississippi State in 2018 but was medically disqualified in 2020 due to an injury, leading to the beginning of her coaching career in Starkville. Nikolaev was a four-time member of the Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll, a three-time President’s List honoree at MSU, and was twice named to the MSU Dean’s List.
Nikolaev, who served in the Israeli National Army from 2015-17, earned a bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology at Mississippi State University and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Sport Management at Jax State.
