Pirates Gear Up For 2015 Women's Tennis Campaign
January 30, 2015 | Women's Tennis
GREENVILLE, N.C. -- The East Carolina women's tennis team embarks on its first season of American Athletic Conference action with the help of seven established returners and four highly-regarded newcomers.
The Pirates posted a 12-11 record last spring and suffered a first-round exit at the Conference USA Championship Tournament. While the 12-win season was the second consecutive for ECU, veteran head coach Tom Morris is even more optimistic about what lies ahead.
"We are starting this season with a very talented, very deep team, in both singles and doubles," Morris said. "I believe if we are to have a successful season, we will have to stay healthy, receive help from our freshmen class, be competitive at the top of our lineup and win the doubles point."
Morris returns a squad that accounted for close to 60 percent of the team's singles wins last year as well as five of their top six players from the 2014 season. Seniors Dana Gray and Neena Wanko, junior Nicole LaDuca and sophomores Michelle Castro, Maria Storozheva and Betsy Zurawel offer the most experience to the Pirates' 2015 roster.
A second team all-conference selection, Gray is expected to spearhead an ECU lineup after an impressive 2014 campaign that included 17 overall wins and a unit-best 12 dual match triumphs. Morris hopes the New Zealand native can maintain some momentum after concluding last spring with victories in five of her last seven matches.
Wanko, a fifth-year performer from Southern Pines who was granted a medical hardship waiver last season, appears to have recovered from a nagging shoulder injury that sidelined her in the spring. She rolled to a 3-0 singles mark upon her return to active status during the fall and Morris believes Wanko will play a key role in the team's success this year based on her 91 career combined victories.
Castro racked up four singles wins in 11 fall tournament appearances, but was the only Pirate to face nationally-ranked opponents. She enjoyed a strong rookie debut a year ago with 16 overall victories - eight coming in dual match play. The Oakton, Va. native also teamed with LaDuca to form one of East Carolina's most formidable doubles pairs in the lineup in 2014.
After opening her fall season with victories against Georgia's Laura Patterson and Virginia Tech's Katherine Butler at the UNC Wilmington Beach Blast last September, LaDuca eventually settled for a 3-4 singles record. The junior from Woodstock, Ga. also finished off her injury-plagued sophomore year with five singles wins while playing in the middle of the Pirates' lineup at four different positions.
Storozheva concluded the fall with a 3-7 singles ledger, but did turn in a 16-win freshman year. Included in the victory total were six successful outings last spring, like LaDuca, that were gathered in the center of ECU's starting six. The Moscow, Russia product also teamed with Gray for seven doubles wins as the Pirates' No. 1 tandem for most of the campaign.
East Carolina was forced to fill spots that were responsible for a combined 47 singles wins - a team-best 21 by graduated senior Melis Tanik - on the roster, but Morris' diligence on the recruiting trail should be rewarded by four newcomers who could have immediate impacts in 2015.
Freshmen Maria Gomez, Sarah Sarjoo and Meredith Smith are all set to experience their first spring action, along with junior transfer Katie Hoch.
Hoch, a Montclair, N.J. native, transferred into the ECU program last summer and appeared in eight fall matches after compiling five singles wins and eight doubles victories at Big Ten Conference member Wisconsin as a freshman and sophomore. Before her stint with the Badgers, Hoch compiled an impressive resume at reputable Heritage Academy on Hilton Head Island (S.C.).
Gomez begins her first spring season as a Pirate after tallying a 3-3 mark during the fall, which included a memorable collegiate debut by downing UNC-Wilmington's Hamilton Lovett 6-4, 6-1 on Sept. 13. A product of Palermo de San Jose High School in Medellin, Columbia, she was ranked as the No. 1 player in her country for six-straight years beginning at age 12.
Sarjoo started her journey to Greenville from Johannesburg, South Africa where she was a decorated international performer. She opened her East Carolina career in solid fashion with a .500 or better record in both singles (4-4) and doubles (5-4) play during the fall. After dropping her initial match at the UNC-Wilmington Beach Blast, she rolled off four successive victories against foes from Virginia Tech, NC State, UNCW and Norfolk State to highlight her autumn efforts. Similar to Gomez, Sarjoo is considered one of the best players in her age group in her native country, earning a Top 10 rank since competing in the 12-and-under division.
Smith made the shortest trip of the freshmen, heading east for only 272 miles from Boone, N.C. She enjoyed an illustrious prep career at Watauga High School as the Pioneers' No. 1 player and a three-time conference player-of-the-year selection. Smith experienced limited action for the Pirates during the fall, playing in just one match during the ECU Invitational.
The Pirates face a difficult test with nearly a handful of ranked opponents - No. 3 North Carolina, No. 20 Notre Dame, No. 62 Wake Forest and No. 75 N.C. State - on the schedule, but Morris has a reason for creating a challenging road ahead.
"Our schedule is significantly more difficult than we have seen in past years, both in terms of travel and strength," he said. "Improving our schedule is an area in which we have worked very hard, and we are excited about this schedule as it will give us the opportunity to play against some of the best teams in the nation. Ultimately, playing this type of schedule will make us better."
East Carolina begins the 2015 season Saturday on the road with a matchup against NC State in Raleigh at 3 p.m. The Pirates will welcome Appalachian State for their home opener a week later on Feb. 7 beginning at 10 a.m.
Players Mentioned
