Gameday: Women's Tennis Opens Season At NC State

Match 1: ECU (0-0) at NC State (0-0)
Date	Friday, Jan. 18
Time	4 p.m. (EST)
Location	Raleigh, N.C. (J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center)
Social Media	Twitter: @ecuwtennis Instagram: @ecuwtennis Facebook: ECU Pirates Women's Tennis

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Coming off one of the best seasons in program history, the ECU women's tennis team will start its 2019 campaign on Friday evening when the Pirates head to Raleigh to take on NC State.

"We have one of the most talented teams that I have coached," said head coach Tom Morris. "I think we have a great, but challenging schedule. There are a lot of good teams and programs and we will have to play very well to be able to get through this year in the same way that we did last year. With that, also comes a great opportunity. We're a talented team, so if we can learn to come together as a team and play as well as we're capable of, I think this has the potential to be one of our best years."

ECU finished the 2018 season with a 17-9 record, which is tied for the fifth-highest single season win total and was the second time in three seasons that ECU has won 17 matches. It was also the third consecutive winning season for the Pirates.

A big reason for ECU's success in 2018 was its depth as five different players won at least 11 matches. The top returner for ECU is senior Celia Ruiz, who went 15-3 last spring and 21-4 overall during her junior season. She was an All-American Athletic Conference selection for the third consecutive season. After entering the fall campaign ranked No.50 in the International Tennis Association's (ITA) singles rankings, Ruiz was limited to just three singles matches and two doubles matches due to injury, although she did pick up ECU's lone win over a nationally ranked opponent.

"A lot of that depends on factors that might be out of our control, like how healthy we are," Morris said. "Celia not having played much in the fall, it will take a little bit more to get that playing experience back. She has been a staple in our program the last three years. When you have someone at No. 1 that you can rely on to be very competitive in that position, that is a great thing to have."

In Ruiz's absence during the fall, Nastja Rettich was the top singles player for ECU. Rettich went 13-7 during the 2018 spring season and she followed it with a team-best 8-3 mark during the fall. Joining Rettich in winning eight matches was Alisa Diercksen, as Diercksen followed a 13-10 freshman spring by going 8-6 during the fall.

Diercksen was also a part of ECU's top two doubles pairings during the fall. Diercksen teamed with Lisa Hofbauer to go 5-1 during the fall, the best mark among Pirate duos. That 5-1 record helped the pairing enter the ITA doubles rankings, checking in at No. 49. Diercksen becomes the fifth player in ECU history to be ranked by the ITA, joining Hofbauer, Ruiz, current associate head coach Kirstin Burgess and Gillie Bailey. Hofbauer and Diercksen also claimed the doubles title at the Robert Allison Fall Classic.

Joining the team in the fall were freshmen Martina Paladini-Jennings and Minette Van Vreden and both had solid starts. Paladini-Jennings was third on the team with a 6-3 singles record while Van Vreden earned a 5-4 singles mark. The pair also worked well as a tandem, finishing 2-1 in doubles play.

First up for ECU will be a road match at instate rival NC State. The Wolfpack finished the 2018 season with a 17-15 record and fell to Baylor in the first round of the NCAA Championship. NC State is currently receiving votes in the latest ITA team poll. Anna Rogers is ranked No. 23 in the singles poll after finishing the fall with a 9-4 record. Also ranked is Alana Smith at No. 111. In doubles, Smith and Rogers are ranked as the No. 20 tandem in the country after going 7-1 during the fall. Also ranked at No. 37 is the pairing of Amanda Rebol and Adriana Reami, a duo that finished the fall 7-5 together. ECU will be looking for its first win in 27 tries against the Wolfpack.

"We have a lot of talent on this team," added Morris. "We have a great potential to do great things with this team if everything falls into place."

Friday's match is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m., inside the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center.

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Players Mentioned

Alisa Diercksen

Lisa Hofbauer

Martina Paladini-Jennings

Nastja Rettich

Celia Ruiz

Minette Van Vreden

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