Mississippi State women’s tennis adds Carolina Troiano, Chiara Di Genova

Mississippi State head coach Chris Hooshyar added one of Italy’s top prospects this week, signing Carolina Troiano to the Bulldogs’ roster, and also added Chiara Di Genova out of the transfer portal from Florida State.

Troiano, a native of Rome, is expected to arrive in Starkville in August. She is currently No. 217 in the ITF rankings and won a tournament in Pescara, Italy, last year.

“We are so excited that Carolina has trusted us to help her take the next step toward becoming a professional tennis player,” MSU assistant coach Noah Tippen said in a news release. “She was someone we had our eyes on for a long time during the recruiting process because of the improvements she has been able to make in the last year.”

A former multi-sport athlete, Troiano played on the U16 Italian national team in soccer before specializing in tennis at age 14. She joins Gianna Oboniye from Canada in the Bulldogs’ incoming class this fall, and also joins rising senior Alessia Tagliente representing Italy in Starkville.

“Once we began speaking to Carolina, she immediately saw the vision that (Hooshyar) has implemented here to develop players at the highest level to help them become professionals,” Tippen said. “Carolina is hungry to keep getting better and I know that she will fit in with and help grow our culture as a teammate.”

Di Genova is from Buenos Aires, Argentina, and saw action in four singles and three doubles matches with the Seminoles as a freshman this past spring. Her lone dual singles match was a 6-0, 6-2 win over Susan Salinas of Florida A&M.

MSU finished 11-16 in 2024, Hooshyar’s first season, with a 1-12 record in Southeastern Conference play. Alexandra Mikhailuk and Chloé Cirotte were the Bulldogs’ lone graduating seniors.

“We had already built a very strong relationship with (Di Genova) in her initial recruiting process, and I think she is coming in now with an even better understanding of what we’re looking to build here,” Tippen said. “She is another player who we feel is going to be able to use everything that Chris has put in place here to keep developing and will be able to have even more success on the WTA Tour after her time in Starkville.”