Malvika Shukla Earns Unanimous First Team All-BIG EAST Honors for Second Consecutive Season
5/2/2024 10:10:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Shukla becomes the seventh Bluejay in program history to earn multiple all-conference honors
OMAHA, Neb. – Creighton women's tennis senior Malvika Shukla earned unanimous All-BIG EAST First Team accolades, the conference announced on Thursday morning.
Shukla, claiming All-BIG EAST recognition for the second straight season, became just the seventh Bluejay in program history to earn multiple all-conference honors, joining Katie Chiu (2006, 2007), Jennie Hartjes (2013, 2015), Ashley Ishimura (2018, 2019), Kate Krueger (2021, 2022), Valerie Negin (2022,2023) and Tess Reddin (2009, 2010).
Playing at the No.1 singles for the second consecutive season, Shukla earned a team-high 16 singles wins during the 2023-24 season, finishing her career at Creighton ranked in the top-5 in program history with 68 career singles victories. This season, Shukla was named BIG EAST Singles Player of the Week twice, posting a trio of victories against BIG EAST opponents, including a pair of three-set wins over Marquette's Emilija Kojcic and DePaul's Hannah Smith.
Shukla also teamed up to earn two BIG EAST Doubles Team of the Week honors and 16 additional victories with Negin at the No. 1 doubles position. Combined with the 41 doubles wins over her first three years as a Bluejay, Shukla closed out her collegiate career ranked ninth in school history with 57 career doubles wins.
"Malvika has been tremendous for Creighton on and off the court since she arrived in 2021," said head coach Tom Lilly. "Through her career she played all six singles and all three doubles positions, which is very rare. She continued to improve and all she did was win at a very high rate. I'm so lucky to have been able to coach her these last four years."
Ending her career as one of the most decorated Bluejays in program history, the India native ranks fifth on Creighton's all-time career wins list with 125 victories (68 singles, 57 doubles).
Outside of tennis, Shukla has earned plenty of recognition in the classroom, including earning the Carl M. Reinert, S.J. Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the most prestigious award a student-athlete at Creighton can receive.
Xavier senior Imani Graham repeated as BIG EAST Player of the Year, while Georgetown's Emily Novikov was named the BIG EAST Freshman of the Year. Xavier's Doug Matthews also garnered BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year following his fourth consecutive BIG EAST Tournament title.
2024 BIG EAST Women's Tennis All-Conference Selections
Player of the Year
Imani Graham, Sr., Xavier (St. John's, Fla.)*
Freshman of the Year
Emily Novikov, Georgetown
Coaching Staff of the Year
Xavier (Doug Matthews)
First Team
Olivia Wright, Jr., UConn*
Malvika Shukla, Sr., Creighton*
Hannah Smith, So., DePaul
Ami Grace Dougah, Gr., Villanova
Imani Graham, Sr., Xavier*
Anna Roggenburk, R-Sr., Xavier*
Second Team
Delaney Schurhamer, Sr., Butler
Eleanor Nobbs, Jr., DePaul
Chloe Bendetti, Gr., Georgetown
Emily Novikov, Fr., Georgetown
Emilija Kojcic, Sr., Marquette
Mouna Bouzgarrou, Gr., St. John's
*Denotes unanimous selection
Shukla, claiming All-BIG EAST recognition for the second straight season, became just the seventh Bluejay in program history to earn multiple all-conference honors, joining Katie Chiu (2006, 2007), Jennie Hartjes (2013, 2015), Ashley Ishimura (2018, 2019), Kate Krueger (2021, 2022), Valerie Negin (2022,2023) and Tess Reddin (2009, 2010).
Playing at the No.1 singles for the second consecutive season, Shukla earned a team-high 16 singles wins during the 2023-24 season, finishing her career at Creighton ranked in the top-5 in program history with 68 career singles victories. This season, Shukla was named BIG EAST Singles Player of the Week twice, posting a trio of victories against BIG EAST opponents, including a pair of three-set wins over Marquette's Emilija Kojcic and DePaul's Hannah Smith.
Shukla also teamed up to earn two BIG EAST Doubles Team of the Week honors and 16 additional victories with Negin at the No. 1 doubles position. Combined with the 41 doubles wins over her first three years as a Bluejay, Shukla closed out her collegiate career ranked ninth in school history with 57 career doubles wins.
"Malvika has been tremendous for Creighton on and off the court since she arrived in 2021," said head coach Tom Lilly. "Through her career she played all six singles and all three doubles positions, which is very rare. She continued to improve and all she did was win at a very high rate. I'm so lucky to have been able to coach her these last four years."
Ending her career as one of the most decorated Bluejays in program history, the India native ranks fifth on Creighton's all-time career wins list with 125 victories (68 singles, 57 doubles).
Outside of tennis, Shukla has earned plenty of recognition in the classroom, including earning the Carl M. Reinert, S.J. Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the most prestigious award a student-athlete at Creighton can receive.
Xavier senior Imani Graham repeated as BIG EAST Player of the Year, while Georgetown's Emily Novikov was named the BIG EAST Freshman of the Year. Xavier's Doug Matthews also garnered BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year following his fourth consecutive BIG EAST Tournament title.
2024 BIG EAST Women's Tennis All-Conference Selections
Player of the Year
Imani Graham, Sr., Xavier (St. John's, Fla.)*
Freshman of the Year
Emily Novikov, Georgetown
Coaching Staff of the Year
Xavier (Doug Matthews)
First Team
Olivia Wright, Jr., UConn*
Malvika Shukla, Sr., Creighton*
Hannah Smith, So., DePaul
Ami Grace Dougah, Gr., Villanova
Imani Graham, Sr., Xavier*
Anna Roggenburk, R-Sr., Xavier*
Second Team
Delaney Schurhamer, Sr., Butler
Eleanor Nobbs, Jr., DePaul
Chloe Bendetti, Gr., Georgetown
Emily Novikov, Fr., Georgetown
Emilija Kojcic, Sr., Marquette
Mouna Bouzgarrou, Gr., St. John's
*Denotes unanimous selection
Players Mentioned
Creighton Men's Tennis Final Point and Celebration vs. Xavier, 4/19/25
Saturday, April 19
Creighton Men's Tennis Postgame vs. North Dakota, 3/30/25
Sunday, March 30
Creighton Women's Tennis Postgame vs. North Dakota, 3/29/25
Sunday, March 30
Crieghton Men's Tennis Postmatch vs. Butler, 2/16/25
Sunday, February 16
