University of North Florida
FGCU Spring Invitational
Women’s Tennis Picked Third A-Sun Preseason Poll
1/14/2010 4:01:02 PM | Women's Tennis
UNF Opens Weekend Saturday at FGCU’s Hilton Garden Inn Eagle Invite
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of North Florida women's tennis team was picked to finish third in the 2010 Atlantic Sun Preseason Poll as voted on by the league's head coaches.
The Ospreys open up the spring season on Saturday-Monday, Jan. 16-18, when they travel to Fort Myers, Fla. for the Hilton Garden Inn Eagle Invite held at the FGCU Tennis Complex.
"Our team is looking forward to getting into the spring part of the schedule," said head coach Rodrigo Puebla. "We return a strong group of players this season and our most recent addition, Danielle Day, will really help to strengthen our line-up even more. We are hoping to continue buidling on last season's success. This tournament will really help us to evaluate where we are at this point before we get into dual play at the end of the month."
UNF finished third just eight points behind No. 2 pick East Tennessee State University, who won the regular-season in 2009. Stetson was picked to win the league.
The Ospreys return four players from last year's team that went 16-5 (8-2 A-Sun) in dual matches. Returning is sophomore Aline Berkenbrock who won Atlantic Sun Freshman of the Year last season after tallying a record of 12-9 in singles action, playing in the No. 1 position.
Raquel Castro, a senior, played in the No. 2 singles spot, recording a record of 18-3, including a 9-1 record in A-Sun action. She picked up a big win over No. 30 ranked Florida International's Maria Spencley last season.
Castro and Berkenbrock are currently ranked No. 10 in the ITA Southeast Regional Doubles rankings. Last season the pair tallied a 17-4 record and defeated No. 30 ranked FIU's No. 1 duo of Maria Pazo and Mariana Muci. They also defeated the No. 59 tandem of Jenny Frisell and Elvira Serrot of UCF last year.
Juniors Lauren Holton and Victoria Krook are also back for the Ospreys. Holton tallied a singles record of 16-3 overall and 8-1 in the A-Sun, playing primarily in the No. 5 (9-2) and No. 6 (7-0) positions. She had a win over No. 30 FIU's Maria Vallasciani last season.
Krook had an 18-3 singles record and went 8-1 in conference matches, seeing time primarily in the No. 5 (6-2) and No. 6 (11-1) spots.
Holton along with Krook went 19-2 in doubles action in the No. 3 position.
Joining the team this season are sophomores Heather St. John and Danielle Day and freshman Melanie Aguirre.
The Ospreys begin the 2010 campaign at the Florida Gulf Coast Hilton Garden Inn Eagle Invite. Matches will run all day at the FGCU Tennis Complex.
