Tennis Ranked #6 in NAIA Preseason Poll
In the 2015 NAIA Women's Tennis Coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll released on Tuesday, the Brenau tennis team was again selected among the top ten as the program enters the season with high expectations and a new team look.
The Golden Tigers received 261 votes were one of four Southern States Athletic Conference teams to receive votes in the poll.
Brenau, ranked #6 in the early poll, is slotted just behind reigning SSAC champions and #5 Auburn-Montgomery (Ala.) and well ahead of #16 Coastal Georgia. Fellow SSAC team William Carey (Miss.) College also received votes.
The 2015 squad has a new identity after the Golden Tigers graduated three All-American players in Dominika Jasova, Stephanie Moniz and Zalina Nazarova.
The team will be anchored by 2014 NAIA first-team All-American Maria Perdomo Medina and experienced players Kelley Cohron (JR/Buford, Ga.) and Snezhana Kiseleva (SO/Naberezhnye Chelny, Russia). Newcomers include three talented freshmen- Paula Rives Palau (FR/Barcelona, Spain), Patricia Recalde Pacua (FR/Asuncion, Paraguay) and Nathalia Bolivar (FR/Cali, Columbia)- and junior college transfer All-American Fatyha Berjane (JR/Casablanca, Morocco).
"Last year's team laid the foundation," said head coach Andre Ferreira. "We're in a great place to start the season. We have three talented freshman that will develop with time, and an accomplished transfer. We also have three returners, including our captains, Maria and Kelley, who are great leaders and role models."
"With our rigorous schedule, our team will face the best programs in small college tennis. Our goals for the season are health, consistency, and small gradual improvements, in that order. Practices are going well and the new players are demonstrating great qualities on and off the court. We will be ready for kick off in a couple of weeks"
In addition to the rigorous SSAC slate, the Golden Tigers face a challenging schedule that decorated with matches against nationally-ranked programs.
Brenau goes outside the conference to take on NAIA preseason #1 and reigning national champions Georgia Gwinnett College , #3 Xavier (La.) University, #8 SCAD-Savannah (Ga.), #25 Cumberland (Tenn.) University, Reinhardt (Ga.) (RV) and both reigning NCAA Division II national champions Barry (Fla.) University and NCAA Division III national champions Emory (Ga.) University.
Brenau opens the season on February 8th at 1:00 pm as the team travels to NCAA Division II Clayton State (Ga.) University for a non-conference matchup.