LSU Gold

Joana Valle Costa Season 2024-25

Height
5'5
Class
Senior
Hometown
Lisbon, Portugal
High School
Escolar Secundaria de Cascais

2017 ITA Singles All-American
2017 ITA Doubles All-American
2017 All-Louisiana First Team
2017 All-SEC Second Team
2017 SEC Community Service Team
2016 All-SEC First Team
2016 All-Louisiana First Team
2016 ITA Scholar Athlete
2015 All-SEC First Team
2015 ITA Scholar Athlete 
2015 All-Louisiana First Team
2015 SEC Academic Honor Roll
2014 All-SEC Second Team
2014 All-SEC Freshman Team
2014 ITA Southern Region Rookie of the Year
2014 All-Louisiana Second Team

SENIOR SEASON (2016-17)
Earned her third straight bid for the NCAA Singles Championships where she became the first Tiger since 2009 to advance to the round of 16 … Became just the second LSU women’s tennis player in program history to be named a ITA Singles All-American and ITA Doubles All-American in the same season … Nominated to the All-SEC second team … Named First Team All-Louisiana … Named to the SEC Community Service Team for her efforts in the Baton Rouge area … Finished the dual season with a 17-7 singles record as the No. 44-ranked player in the country … Earned six wins over ranked opponents including No. 32 Lily Miyazaki of Oklahoma, No. 33 Kimmy Guerin of Wake Forest and No. 71 Andie Dikosavljevic of Ole Miss … Clinched the best conference start in 20 seasons for LSU with her win over Rutuja Bhosale against No. 20 A&M … Defeated No. 51 Bhosale once again in the second round of the SEC Tournament to send the Tigers to the quarterfinals … Finished the season as the No. 16-ranked doubles team along with partner Ryann Foster … Compiled a 9-10 dual doubles record playing on court one … Had a pair of top-10 doubles wins over No. 8 Alizee Michaud and Taylor Russo of Auburn and No. 7 Rachel Pierson and Rutuja Bhosale of Texas A&M … Valle Costa and Foster became the first LSU doubles pairing since 2009 to qualify for the NCAA Doubles Championships and the first pairing in program history to reach the NCAA doubles semifinals … Earned her fourth varsity letter.

JUNIOR SEASON (2015-16)
Earned her second at-large bid for singles play at NCAA Championships … Became the fourth player in school history to earn back-to-back NCAA Singles Championship bids … Nominated to the All-SEC first team for the second consecutive year … Finished the season with a 21-15 overall record and 15-12 record in dual matches … Secured a ranking of 25th in singles at the season’s end … Defeated No. 57 Sadie Hammond 6-1, 6-3 in LSU’s 5-2 win over Tennessee … Picked up ranked wins over No. 67 Caroline Dailey of South Carolina and No. 72 Bea Santos of Missouri … Secured one of the Lady Tigers’ points in a loss to Vanderbilt with a 6-4, 6-1 win over No. 33 Astra Sharma … Took down No. 54 Lauren Marker on court one in LSU’s non-conference match against Arizona … Knotted LSU’s match against No. 10 Oklahoma at 3-3 overall in the ITA Team Indoor Championships with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over No. 27 Katarina Adamovic … Earned her third varsity letter.

SOPHOMORE SEASON (2014-15)
Became the first LSU player since 2009 to be selected to the All-SEC first team …. Also selected to the All-Louisiana first team … Earned an at-large selection for the NCAA Singles Championships … Became the first Lady Tiger since Megan Falcon in 2009 to reach the Singles Championships … Finished the season with a 31-13 overall mark and 17-9 in dual match play … Also finished ranked 32nd in singles play and 27th in doubles play … Became the 15th player in school history to reach the 30-win mark in a season … Earned the highest singles win for an LSU player since 2008 with her victory over No. 7 Sydney Campbell of Vanderbilt … Valle Costa along with Noel Scott defeated No. 7 Pleun Burgman and Emily Flickinger of Auburn for the highest doubles win since 2002 … Took down No. 70 Kenna Kilgo of Texas Tech in the second round of the NCAA Tournament … Helped LSU to a victory over No. 57 New Mexico in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament with a 6-7 (5-7), 6-0, 6-2 win over Emily Olivier …. Defeated No. 112 Kelli Hine of Missouri 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) in the opening round of the SEC Tournament … Ended the regular season on a three-match win streak over Kelli Hine of Missouri, Aldila Sutjiadi of Kentucky and Campbell of Vanderbilt … Dominated No. 56 Yasmine Lee of 35th-ranked Mississippi State 6-1, 6-1 …. Took a point over ninth-ranked Alabama with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 26 Erin Routliffe … Also defeated No. 73 Burgmans in singles play 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 … Won a third-set thriller over Joanna Henderson of Tennessee 6-7 (4-7), 6-1, 6-4 … Secured her first tournament title as an LSU Tiger at the 2014 Jack Kramer Invitational … Earned her second varsity letter.

FRESHMAN SEASON (2013-14)
Accumulated an 11-8 overall singles record and a 9-10 overall doubles record … Earned both All-SEC Second Team and All-SEC Freshman Team honors … Received ITA Southern Region Rookie Player of the Year recognition … Selected to All-Louisiana Second Team … Received ITA Southern Region Rookie Player of the Year recognition … Played 24 of 26 dual matches at the No. 1 spot … Singles record included a 10-7 record at No. 1 … Reached a season-high singles ranking of 69, which is the highest an LSU player has been ranked in singles since Whitney Wolf in 2011 … Won 10 matches in straight sets … Garnered three wins over nationally ranked opponents highlighted by a dominating 6-3, 6-0 victory over Auburn’s No. 29 Pleun Burgmans as well as victories over No. 56 Georgiana Patrasc of Mississippi State and No. 59 Eve Repic of Tennessee by identical scores of 6-4, 6-2 during the SEC Tournament … Topped Kayla Rizzolo 6-2, 7-6 (5) to clinch the match for LSU over South Florida in the first round of the ITA Kickoff Weekend … Secured the match and took down SMU’s Anna Kate Anderson 6-1, 6-2 … Notched LSU’s lone point against Ole Miss and knocked off Zalina Khairudinova 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 … Doubles record included a 6-8 record at No. 1 and a 3-2 record at No. 2 … Valle Costa and Skylar Holloway held an 8-6 record with a 5-5 record at No. 1 … The pair reached a four-match win streak and went 6-1 in their first seven matches … Valle Costa and Scott edged Tennessee’s No. 56 Joanna Henderson and Caitlyn Williams 8-6 to clinch the doubles point in the second round of the SEC Tournament … Earned her first varsity letter.

PRIOR TO LSU
Singles runner-up at Amarante Ladies Open in 2012 … Won doubles championship at both Cantanhede Ladies Open and Open Village Ladies Cup in 2012 … Won doubles title at AEGON Junior International Nottingham, Taca Diogo Napoles and Vila Do Conde Junior Tennis Cup in 2012 … Was singles runner-up in XVII International Junior Leiria in 2012 … Was a singles semi-finalist in both the Heraklion and the Portuguese All Ages National Championship in 2013 … Was a Portuguese National Singles Champion for Under 12, Under 14, Under 16 and Under 18 … Was a Portuguese National Doubles Champion for Under 12, Under 14 and Under 16 … Reached a career high of No. 782 in WTA Singles rankings, No. 709 in WTA Doubles rankings and No. 251 in ITF Under 18 rankings … Attended high school at Escola Secundaria de Cascais.

PERSONAL
Born Oct. 31, 1995 … Daughter of Antonio and Rita Valle Costa … Has two brothers Tomas and Filipe … Brother Filipe played tennis for Graceland University (2005-09) … Majoring in sports administration.

Full Bio