Lesia Bilak Schinnerer (2025) - Richmond Athletics Hall of Fame

Lesia Bilak Schinnerer

Induction:
2025
Class:
1998

It didn’t take long for Lesia Bilak-Schinnerer to make her impact on Richmond women’s tennis as a standout singles player and as part of a nationally-acclaimed doubles team with classmate Bridget Merrick.

Following a freshman season in which Bilak reached the singles finals of the CAA Tournament, she would shine at number one singles and doubles for the Spiders the following three seasons, reaching the singles finals again as a junior and earning All-CAA Singles honors as a senior. She won 50 singles matches in four seasons. Bilak shared Richmond’s Senior Female Athlete of the Year honors with Merrick, as the duo reached unprecedented heights.

Playing for legendary Hall of Fame coach Mark Wesselink, the Bilak and Merrick doubles team was ranked as high as ninth nationally. During their 1997-98 senior year, they compiled a 17-2 record in the fall, highlighted by winning the Rolex East Regional Championship with a stunning victory over the nation’s 13^th-ranked doubles team from William & Mary, beating them in straight sets on their home court. The triumph qualified them as one of just 16 teams for the Rolex National Indoor Tennis Championship at SMU in Dallas, TX, where they reached the quarterfinals.

In the spring they were 15-2 for the Spiders, including a 13-match winning streak. Merrick and Bilak were named All-CAA First Team in doubles and as one of the top 32 pairs in the country, they qualified for the NCAA Doubles Championship. The duo won 66 doubles matches for the Spiders in their four seasons.

Following graduation, Bilak played a year on the women’s professional tennis tour.