Tulane University
Northwestern State
Women’s Tennis Opens 2018 Spring Season With Doubleheader
Jan 20, 2018 | Women's Tennis
NEW ORLEANS - The Maria Brito era officially begins Sunday, January 21 when the first-year head coach leads the Tulane women's tennis team into a home doubleheader to begin the 2018 dual match season.
First serve against Northwestern State is scheduled for noon (CT), before taking on the University of New Orleans at 3 p.m. Both matches will be played at the City Park Pepsi Tennis Center.
BRITO BEGINS
Head Coach Maria Brito arrives at Tulane after spending the past four years as an assistant coach for the women's tennis team at Clemson. There, Brito helped lead the Tigers to 64 wins, including a 22-7 campaign in her first year in 2014 which led to a regular season ACC Championship. Brito's tenure also witnessed four straight trips to the NCAA Championships. In addition, in both the 2014 and 2015 seasons, the Tigers qualified for the ITA National Indoor Team Championships and made NCAA Round of 16 appearances. She coached three ITA All-Americans in 2015, including a doubles team that not only won the ITA All-American Doubles Championships, but also reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Doubles Championships
BUILDING ON 20
Tulane posted its first 20-win season in the post-Katrina era by going 22-7 in 2016-17. The year was highlighted by the program's first top-30 win in the post-Katrina era with a 4-3 victory over then No. 28 LSU. The Wave also went 4-0 against American opponents, defeating the likes of UConn, UCF, USF and Houston.
VETERAN MAKEUP
Tulane not only returns a strong cast comprising five letterwinners from last year's team, but each of them finished the 2017 spring campaign at the No. 2-6 spots in the singles lineup.
Senior Sade Atkinson leads the way after earning 2017 All-American Athletic Conference honors with a 16-8 dual singles mark and an 18-5 mark in dual doubles play.
Junior Elena Muller led the Green Wave in dual singles wins for a second straight year in 2017, with a 19-3 mark, en route to earning All-Louisiana First Team recognition. She produced a 9-0 mark at the No. 4 spot in the singles lineup and a 10-2 clip out of the No. 5 position.
Junior Sofia Kurtz comes back after providing consistency to the doubles lineup in 2016-17, compiling a 13-5 overall record which included a 6-3 standing in dual matches. Off the court, she was a 2017 American Athletic Conference All-Academic Team selection.
Sophomore Ivone Alvaro also earned 2017 all-conference honors, while also being named the 2017 American Athletic Conference Co-Freshman of the Year. In addition to an 18-5 singles ledger, she produced a 17-3 doubles mark, which included a 13-2 record when teaming with Atkinson.
Sophomore Christina Sisti topped all Tulane players in both singles (27) and doubles (26) wins during her debut campaign in 2016-17 with a 27-11 record across fall and spring action. Her 18 dual match wins were tied for second on the team with Alvaro, putting up a 7-2 mark at the No. 5 spot and an 11-4 tally playing in the No. 6 slot. She went 4-0 in conference singles matches and clinched the 4-3 victory over 28th-ranked LSU.
NEW FACES
The Green Wave welcomes three newcomers, including sophomore Laura Fabrizi who played her debut season at FAU in 2016-17, as well as freshmen Daniela La Fuente and Alex Alegre.
ALVARO'S DUAL WIN STREAK
Ivone Alvaro has won 11-straight decisions in dual singles matches dating back to last season. She tied the for second on the team in dual wins (18) with Sisti last spring, just one behind Muller.
SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN STATE
The Lady Demons return five players from last year's team and are led by a first-year head coach of their own, Freddy Gomez. They posted a 13-9 record last spring which included a nine-match winning streak before closing the year with losses in four of their last six. An All-LSWA choice in 2017, sophomore Judit Castillo led the Lady Demons in Southland Conference wins in both singles (8-3) and doubles (6-2) competition one year ago.
SCOUTING NEW ORLEANS
The Privateers are coming off their third straight season with at least 15 wins and a second round appearance in the Southland Conference Tournament. Junior Trang Dao leads the team after earning all-conference second team honors and a 2017 All-LSWA First Team nod.
Players Mentioned
