FGCU Women's Tennis

You would think that FGCU was mainly known for just basketball and soccer, but there are other sports too. The FGCU Women's Tennis is another team that will be in this blog. Last year, the team went didn't do so hot going 8-11 in the season before falling to UNF in the A-Sun Conference finals in Jacksonville. The team is led by Courtney Vernon, who's in her 3rd season as head coach. Vernon was also a former tennis player for USF and when she turned pro, she was ranked No. 638 in singles and No. 811 in doubles in the WTA (Women's Tennis Association). This year the team has 2 seniors playing: Alexandra Landert and Elizabeth Means.

For Alexandra Landert, playing for FGCU was a good fit for her. Nothing can stop the 5'8" senior from Zurich, Switzerland from her playing career and playing tennis is in her family blood and not only does she play, but her younger brother, Oliver, plays as well for the Men's Tennis Team. Prior to coming to FGCU, she played her first two years at Seton Hall University, a NCAA Division I team in the Big East Conference. At the start of her freshman year, Landert totaled 12 victories and ended up beating Providence University in doubles with her partner, Anna Guryanova of Russia and also earned honors as Big East Academic All-Star as well as going to the Quinnipiac Invitational at Quinnipiac University. At her sophomore year, Alex went unbeaten in her final five singles competition and finished with a 10-8 record and 13-10 record in doubles. Landert played in 5 invitational tournaments (West Point Invitational, USTA Collegiate Invitational, NJIT Invitational, Cornell Invitational and BIG EAST Championship). After the season, she transferred to FGCU her junior year, but it wasn't her best year as she went 6-8 overall in singles and 9-7 in doubles teaming with Julianna Curtis and then junior Johanna Sterkel. This year will be a big change for her.

Taking the senior reigns with Landert is Elizabeth Means. At 5'5", the Washington D.C. native also has tennis in her family blood for her older sister, Sarah, played on the team last year and is now an assistant coach for head coach Vernon. At the start of her freshman year, Liz was a dominant force on the team as the No. 5 singles player. While playing aside her sister that year, she finished her doubles 10-5 overall with 5-3 in conference and in singles she finished 15-3 overall with 6-1 in conference. Means did so well that she was unanimously named to the A-Sun All-Freshman Team. At sophomore year, Liz fell down just a little bit in doubles going 8-11 overall, but finished 13-7 in singles overall, which also earned her a spot on the Atlantic Sun Academic All-Conference team. At junior year, She fell to a 9-10 record in singles, but bounced back and finished 10-5 in doubles with her sister. Liz was named to Atlantic Sun All-Conference Second Team in doubles with her sister, earned A-Sun Academic All-Conference honors and was named a member of the A-Sun Championship All-Tournament Team. This year, Elizabeth will turn the tables on every one of her opponents.

Since Landert and Means are the only seniors on the team, and wouldn't be able to go into battle alone, Coach Vernon has found the perfect players to help them out. The team has 2 returners and 3 newcomers to back up the 2 seniors.

The 2 returners on the team are junior Breana Stampfli and sophomore Julianna Curtis

Who do you know has a lot of fire to help the team and ice to cool herself down? That would be Breana Stampfli. The 5'4" junior from Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago has a lot of reputation with the team. At the start of her freshman year, Breana was on fire. She played No. 2 singles and recorded a 13-8 record in singles and a 8-6 record in No. 3 doubles. Her success was so phenomenal that Bre was selected to the A-Sun All-Conference Second Team and was named A-Sun Women's Tennis Freshman of the year. At sophomore year, Bre struggled a little bit going 9-13 in singles and 6-6 in doubles and had an overall record of 10-15. For her junior year, Bre will definitely turn the tables on her opponents.

This next player has been called many nicknames: Juls, Juje, Juju, and even Jewels. That player is Julianna Curtis. The 5'8" sophomore from Tampa, Florida is still young, but really does know her role. Last year as a freshman, she finished with 6-7 overall record with a 3-5 record in singles and 2-6 in doubles. She will turn heads around her sophomore year and prove it with style.

Coach Vernon took the liberty to recruit 3 international freshman to join the brigade: Joselyn
Treyes Albarracin, Julia Ascúa and Laura Falceto Font.

Joselyn Treyes Albarracin has the speed that can make cheetahs lose their fur. The 5'2" freshman from Guayaquil, Ecuador has the it factor for FGCU. She has recently won singles and doubles in the ITF Tournament in Ecuador Quito and was also a 2012 representative for Ecuador in the FedCup. Bringing that much experience can help us out with wonders.

Who wouldn't want someone to add more depth to the team? Julia Ascúa sure brings that. The 5'5" freshman from Santa Fe, Argentina has a good reputation. Julia hold a 6-6 record in singles and a 6-5 in double in Junior ITF play. She will make sure to keep the wheels rolling for the team.

Last, but never least is Laura Falceto Font. At 5'3" and hailing from Zaragoza, Spain, Laura is still young and is adapting quite well for the team. In the Junior ITF play, she currently holds a record of 1-1 in both singles and doubles. She will be a great impact for the team.

Meeting the whole team is quite awesome because not only do I get to see them make supreme history, but I get to see them on campus whenever and when they play. You'd be amazed by what tennis can do to bring such intensity. When you go to their matches, you'll know how hard they work to get the victory.