2025 Hall of Fame Class: Maria and Kristina Smith

Maria (Myers) Smith ‘83 and Kristina (Smith) Lott ‘13 were both trailblazers and record setters during their time with the Anteater women’s tennis program. Now, in 2025, they continue to make history as the first mother-daughter duo to be inducted into the UC Irvine Athletics Hall of Fame.

“It is so incredible that we're the third and fourth women's tennis players to ever be inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame,” Maria said. “It's such an honor and so unbelievably special that our names will forever be etched in the record books together in the same year."

“It’s an honor to be inducted, and to receive this accolade alongside my mom makes it even more meaningful,” Kristina added. “I think about how many people get inducted, and it’s a pretty small group on its own, but to be a mother-daughter duo, it gets even smaller. We are both so proud and excited to be a part of UCI Athletics history.”

Maria grew up in Newport Beach as one of 10 children in a loving, tight-knit family. They spent a lot of time together, including on the tennis courts. 

One year, two of Maria's older sisters received Jack Kramer tennis racquets for Christmas. When Maria asked her mom and dad why she didn't get a racquet for Christmas, her mom replied that they didn't think she was interested in tennis.

Maria was determined to prove how serious she was about tennis. “I took the junior racquet we had at the house, walked to the tennis court and proceeded to hit ball after ball against the wall at the back of the court. I did this day after day after school to show my interest. This went on for months. It actually was the best thing ever. The wall never misses, and the repetition really helped my strokes develop.” 

Eventually she did get a new full-sized racquet. From there, she developed her game by going to the local high school courts with her dad, two older sisters, and two younger brothers every single morning in the summer when the sun came up. 

“My dad would feed balls on one court while the other four would do drills and play points on two other courts,” Maria recounted.  “We all rotated through my dad's court. It was usually a two-and-a-half hour highly competitive session.”

Although she never took a lesson, Maria started playing local tournaments at about the age of 12 and began to work her way up the Southern California rankings.  

“We really only played tournaments during summer breaks and never played any national tournaments, so my ranking wasn't as high as it could have been,” Maria reflected. “Thus, I wasn't highly recruited out of high school.”  

Luckily for the Anteaters, the Myers family had already established roots at UC Irvine.

When it was time for Maria to head off to college, all seven of her older siblings had either graduated from or were attending UCI. Her mom had gone back to school to finish her degree at UC Irvine where she graduated alongside Maria's two oldest brothers. Maria's two younger brothers kept the streak alive by graduating from UCI as well.

For Maria, because all her siblings attended UCI, she thought that being an Anteater would be a natural fit. She contacted Doreen Irish, the women's tennis coach, and let her know she and her sister, Melinda (who was transferring in as a junior), would be arriving ready to play. It was during these college years that Maria blossomed on and off of the court.

“I was super quiet in high school, but in college I came out of my shell,” Maria said. “Being part of a team, where you are all working toward a common goal is such an incredible experience; I became a leader. We helped each other get better. It was not only for us as individuals but for our university and to represent UCI. It was such a tremendous atmosphere to be a part of.”

As a sophomore, Maria advanced to the AIAW Singles Championships. The following year, tennis was one of 12 women’s sports added to the NCAA Championship program (1981-82), and Maria became the first Anteater to qualify for the tournament.

“In the beginning of my junior year, playing in the No.1 spot, my top goal was to make it into the first annual NCAA Singles Championship,” Maria said. “That goal was ever present in my mind. Since I was playing all of the best players in the nation, I knew how tough the competition was and this made my training and focus even stronger. If I was going to make it, I would need to go above and beyond on and off the court. I am a big believer in hard work paying off. I started having some good wins at the top and my goal was getting closer. When Doreen got the call that I had made it into the tournament, I was elated--not for just myself but that I would be representing UC Irvine women's tennis in the first NCAA Singles Tournament.”

Not only did she make it in, but Maria won her first-round match, finishing the year ranked among the top-32 women’s tennis players in the NCAA. As a senior in 1983, Maria made it back to the singles tournament along with teammate Cindy Keeling. 

After graduation, Maria worked and saved up some money to play in a few tournaments on the pro circuit before getting into the corporate world. She started on the floor of the Pacific Stock Exchange as a runner, and two weeks later was picked up by a security firm where she was one of three women trading stocks. Maria continued on the floor of the Exchange until she had the first of her four children and became a stay-at-home mom. After her kids got into middle school, she eventually got back into teaching tennis lessons and now teaches boot camp classes as well.

Maria is the only two-time NCAA singles qualifier in UC Irvine women’s tennis history. Forty-two years later, she also still ranks fourth among the Anteaters’ all-time singles wins leaders with 71 victories. Since her collegiate career ended, only one person has passed her on the list – her daughter, Kristina.

Kristina (Smith) Lott remembers being out on the tennis court from a very young age. Just like her father did when she was younger, Maria would take her kids to the local courts to feed them balls. 

When she was 11, Kristina, who also played soccer growing up, turned her focus to tennis and started competing in tournaments.

“I have to commend my parents because they sacrificed a lot of their weekends driving us to tournaments and watching endless amounts of matches,” Kristina said. “It was a huge family commitment, but they were always dedicated to helping us be the best tennis players we could be.”

With the support of her parents, Kristina saw a lot of success throughout her junior career, drawing the attention of college coaches. Early in the recruiting process, Kristina was prepared with a list of things she wanted in a school and tennis program. She knew she wanted to stay in California, was looking for strong academics and a team that would be in contention for a conference title. After visiting several universities, she decided that UC Irvine was the one that checked off all the boxes. And it was a bonus that her grandmother, mother, aunts and uncles also went to UCI where they had a great experience.

“I was really looking for a place that was a good fit for me both athletically and academically,” Kristina said. “It just shows what a great place UCI is that it did tick all those boxes I was looking for. Also, the coach at the time was Mike Edles and he was very well-respected in the Southern California tennis community and was building a program that was on the rise. All of those factors played into my decision to become an Anteater, and it is one of the best decisions I have ever made.”

As a freshman, Kristina saw immediate success, helping the Anteaters to their first and only Big West tournament title to date. They defeated Pacific and UC Santa Barbara to advance to the championship match against top-seeded Long Beach State, which had won the last six conference tournaments. Kristina and the ‘Eaters were up to the challenge, taking down the Beach, 4-1.

“Looking back, it was such an invaluable experience,” Kristina said. “Being in a finals match as a freshman and gaining that experience early on helped me going forward and also laid the foundation for the program’s success in the following years. There was so much excitement around that first Big West Conference title and it’s even more special when you get to do it all together as a team.”

Kristina would make it back to the NCAA Tournament as a senior in 2013. The Anteaters won the Big West regular-season title with a perfect 9-0 record and earned an NCAA at-large bid. They drew San Jose State in the first round, a team they had beaten in a close 4-3 match earlier in the season. It was another hard-fought battle, but UCI was able to take down the Spartans once again (4-2) for the program’s first NCAA win. 

“I remember Ali Facey and I were the last two matches on court and we only needed to win one of our matches to advance in the tournament,” Kristina reminisced. “I was deep in a third set when she won her match and clinched it for us. Everyone stormed her court, hugged each other, and celebrated the win. We knew we were making history for the program and nothing beats doing that with your teammates and coaches right beside you.”

After UC Irvine came up short to fifth-ranked USC in the second round, Kristina’s season continued as she joined her mother as one of four Anteaters to qualify for the NCAA Singles Championships. She pushed No. 19 Maho Kowase of Georgia to a third set before falling, 4-6, 7-6, 6-3.

A three-time all-conference selection, Kristina finished her senior campaign as the Big West Player of the Year and was ranked 85th in the nation in both singles and doubles. She was also named the 2013 UC Irvine Female Athlete of the Year and was the recipient of the prestigious Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award. As a team, UCI had a high ranking of No. 23 before closing out the year at No. 32. Kristina ended her career with a 75-20 dual-match singles record.

Following graduation, Kristina wasn’t done with tennis, playing four years on the pro circuit and reaching as high as No. 830 in the world for singles. She also won a pro doubles title in 2016. She then got into coaching, spending two years as a graduate assistant at Santa Clara where she earned her master’s degree in educational leadership.

Kristina then made her way to Drake where in her second year as an assistant, she helped lead the Bulldogs to the 2021 Missouri Valley Conference title and the program’s third NCAA Tournament berth. She was then named head coach for the 2021-22 campaign and earned MVC Coach of the Year honors after guiding Drake to the regular-season title with an unblemished 6-0 record. Kristina is now a full-time mom to her two-year-old daughter. 

Both Maria and Kristina have seen their hard work pay off in every step of their careers. Now, they will be celebrated together for all their achievements in front of family and friends at the UC Irvine Athletics Hall of Fame Ceremony on Friday, Jan. 31.