FGCU WTEN: Spring Invite Preview

Before the season begins, the FGCU women's tennis teams opens up with the FGCU Spring Invite. The Eagles welcome the University of South Carolina, Rice University, University of Denver, Ole Miss and the University of Kansas.

Of course, the spring invite does not count for season, however it will count, individually, for ranking points in the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

The Eagles are led by Head coach Courtney Vernon. Vernon, who enters her fifth season as head coach. Recently, Vernon was named A-SUN Coach of the Year last season and the second time in her coaching career as well as her second straight year.

Last season, the Eagles finished 15-5 with a 6-0 record in the A-SUN and were the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. During the season, the Eagles had a few moments for the program where they beat USF for the first time in seven meets and conference rival UNF for the first time in 13 meets. At the end of the tournament, the Eagles fell to UNF in the championship.

In addition, the Eagles lost Breana Stampfli and Sara Kelly. Stampfli graduated in the fall semester while Kelly is still enrolled at FGCU, but will be playing professionally.

On the other hand, the Eagles managed to sign two newcomers this past fall semester: Madison "Maddy" Gallegos and Patrica "Patri" Villar. Gallegos, a native of Denver, Colorado, joins FGCU as a freshman after spending her high school career at the Colorado Connection Academy. Villar, a native of Logrono, Spain, joins as a junior after transferring from the University of Louisiana-Monroe. Villar will have two years of remaining eligibility.

FGCU Key Players:
Key returning players that made difference to the team include senior Julianna "Juje" Curtis, junior Juli Ascua, sophomore Maja Ornberg and junior Laura "Lau" Falceto Font.

Curtis, the lone senior on the team, was 13-14 in singles and 23-9 in doubles last year. Curtis primarily played doubles with Ascua and two of her doubles wins came from teaming with former USF player Brooke Lashway. In singles, Curtis played primarily between No. 4 and No. 5 singles. The West Des Moines native was named A-SUN Scholar-Athlete of the Year as well as a member of the A-SUN All-Academic Team and an ITA Scholar-Athlete.

Ascua, a native of Santa Fe, Argentina, was 16-9 in singles and 21-8 in doubles teaming majorly with Curtis. Ascua earned A-SUN First Team All-Conference honors for the second straight season as well as All-Academic Team recognition in her first year of eligibility while becoming an ITA Scholar-Athlete.

Ornberg, a native of Kil, Sweden, spent the entire season in #1 singles and at #2 doubles with Stampfli. Ornberg was 14-9 in singles and 12-10 in doubles, primarily with Stampfli. Ornberg was A-SUN Freshman of the Year, a unanimous First Team All-Conference selection, All-Conference Doubles Team at #2 doubles and a unanimous selection to the All-Freshman Team.

Font was 17-8 in singles and 7-7 in doubles last season. A native of Zaragoza, Spain, Font is a two-time All-Conference Second Team member as well as a member of the A-SUN All-Academic Team where she joins Curtis and Ascua as an ITA Scholar-Athlete.

Scouting The Lady Pioneers:
Denver went 19-7 last season with an 8-0 record in the Summit League conference. The Lady Pioneers won their conference tournament and advanced to the second round of the national tournament beating USC 4-2 in the first round before falling to Texas Tech 4-1 in the second.

The Lady Pioneers had three players depart from graduating: Morgan Barnhill, Sonja Radosevic and Maureen Slattery. They did manage to ink three upcoming freshman: Hada Chang, Anna Riedmiller and Camille Verden-Anderson.

Returning players to watch out for are redshirt junior Arisha Ladhani, junior Bianca Mok and senior Julia O'Loughlin.

Ladhani, a native of West Vancouver, B.C., Canada and a transfer from UC Irvine, went 17-4 overall in singles and 1-2 in doubles. Ladhani was named to All-Summit League Team last season.

Mok was 16-7 overall in singles and 16-6 in doubles playing all with former player Morgan Barnhill. Mok was also named to All-Summit League Team last season as well last season.

O'Loughlin went 14-9 in singles and 18-3 in doubles playing majorly with former player Maureen Slatterly. O'Loughlin was also named to the All-Summit League Team with Ladhani and Mok.

Scouting The Owls:
Last season, FAU went 18-6 overall with a 6-0 record in C-USA. They won the tournament beating FIU 4-1 before falling to TCU in the first round of the national tournament.

The Owls will lose Alison Ho and Katherine Ip as they graduated, but signed three freshman to join: Anna Bowtell, Michaela Haet and Sofie Moenster.

Returning players to watch for include seniors Savannah Durkin, Lindsey Hodge and Wendy Zhang.

Durkin was 21-7 in singles and 25-9 in doubles. She also was a member of the All C-USA Singles Second Team and All C-USA Doubles Third Team.

Hodge was 23-13 in singles and 23-11 in doubles. The Roswell, Georgia native was a member of the All C-USA First team in singles and doubles, a member of the C-USA All-Academic Team, the Rice Scholar Athlete, C-USA Academic Medalist and C-USA Honor Roll.

Zhang was 27-9 in singles and 24-11 in doubles. The Richmond, B.C., Canada native was a C-USA Commissioner's Medalist, a member of the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll, C-USA Newcomer of the Year and a member of the All C-USA First team in singles and doubles.

Scouting The Rebels:
Ole Miss were 15-14 overall last year with a 3-10 record in the SEC. They did not win the SEC Conference Tournament, but managed to make it to the national tournament. They would defeat William and Mary 4-1 in the first round before falling 1-4 to host UNC in the second round.

The Rebels lost Zalina Khairudinova as she graduated, but they also parted ways with junior Brooke Stevens. The Rebels signed freshman Sabina Machalova to join.

Key returners for the Rebels include senior Arianne Hartono, sophomore Anna Vrbenska and sophomore Alexa Bortles.

Hartono was 20-15 in singles and 15-14 in doubles. A native of Meppel, Netherlands, Hartono was an All-SEC First Team member and ITA Scholar-Athlete. This was the third straight time Hartono was named ITA Scholar-Athlete.

Vrbenska, a native of Podebrady, Czech Republic, was 18-9 in singles and 18-13 in doubles last season.

Bortles was 10-7 in singles and 14-12 in doubles.

Scouting The Jayhawks:
Kansas was 14-15 overall with a 4-5 record in the Big 12. They would lose in the conference championship to Oklahoma State. The doubles teams went to the national tournament defeating Mississippi State 3-6, 6-4, 10-8 in the first round before falling 6-4, 6-2 to Denver in the second round.

The Jayhawks lost lone senior Tess Bernard-Feigenbaum, but have signed freshman Carla Pons Martorell.

Returning players junior Janet Koch, junior Anastasia Rychagova, and sophomore Maria Toran-Ribes.

Koch, a native of Durbanville, South Africa, was 10-6 in singles and 9-7 in doubles.

Rychagova was 15-4 in singles and 12-4 in doubles. The Moscow native and former Big 12 Freshman of the Year and ITA Central Region Rookie of the Year, was named a member of the All-Big 12 Singles First Team for the second straight season as well as a Big 12 All-Academic First Team member. Rychagova is currently ranked as the #1 player in the nation.

Toran-Ribes, a native of Algemesí, Spain, was 14-4 in singles and 14-5 in doubles.

The FGCU Spring Invite will start from January 13-15, 2018. Times are yet to be determined, but chances are that they are in the early morning (probably between 8 and 9 A.M.).