Women’s Tennis

Coach’s Corner

Year: Fall 2008 | Spring 2008 | 2007

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September 2008

Shooting STARS

Last year’s number one seeded player, Alex Glebova from St. Petersburg, Russia, returns with a 4.0 GPA and some very fine victories at the 2008 NJCAA National Tournament. We’re glad to have a young lady of her stature back for her sophomore year.

Last year’s number three player and MPV Krista Bastien has moved on to the fine NCAA Division II school, Flagler College in Saint Augustine, Fla. Coach Shinn at Flagler has stated how excited he is to have her there and of course she’s thrilled to be there. Congratulations Krista.

Ashley Lowery of Jacksonville, with so much untapped skill, is leaning toward attending the University of North Florida with tennis possibly in the wings—she’s another hard to replace player.

Number four position STALWART, Jessica McAtee, had a tremendous freshman year in singles and played a very, very good spot on the number one doubles team with Glebova. “Mac” was the runner–up at the state tournament in 2008 for her number position. You have to be happy with second place in the state of Florida.

Michele Farmer came to FCCJ as a player after a little time off but as the season wore on she started to get her groove on, became more determined, got more confident and timing, and then got better and better. She stepped into the number 2 doubles team late with Krista Bastien and all they went on to win the number 2 double position at the 2008 State Tournament. She did a great job with her new partner—way to go Michele. We’re looking forward to her sophomore year.

Sophomore Elyse Reyes from Camden County High School in St. Marys, Ga., has done such a great job playing at the number five and six positions with many victories. She and her departed doubles partner Jack Armstrong won a ton of matches during the season and Elyse should be a stronger player in the 2009 season. We really need her to step it up this year just like all the others need to do.

This years new group is like “WOW” Check them out: Chelsey Lynn, Arina Yakovtseva, Danielle Dionne, Sarah Woodall and Kikki Hurtt.

Chelsey comes to us from New Smyrna Beach, Fla., where she had just an outstanding junior and high school career. She played and played hard thru so many tournaments and matches, districts, et al. She didn’t forget who she was, where she came from and how she achieved what she did. She capped her junior career with a terrific win over an old rival who has moved into the college ranks also. Chelsey had other school options but we are so glad that she chose FCCJ. She’ll make some university coach really happy in about two years.

Another fine player from overseas is Arina Yakovtseva. She comes all the way from Siberia, Russia, just to play for FCCJ. She joins another fine young Russian player, Alex Glebova, a sophomore who will have an awesome battle for the coveted and proud number one position. Arina has a lot of emotion in her game, a lot of power and even more skill. She’s an excellent addition to our team.

Danielle Dionne from DeLand, Fla., is another good freshman addition. She has good strokes, power and determination. Good speed will help her get to many balls that a lot of players don’t reach. Danielle can be as good as she wants to be. Come on Dani, let's go!

Sarah Woodall of Fleming High School in Fleming Island, Fla., and Kikki Hurtt from Lee High School in Jacksonville, Fla., are two dark horses who are going surprise some young ladies if they aren’t careful. Both have already delighted us: Sarah had a super first round victory at the ITA Fall Tournament and Kikki is making some noise here in practice matches on the FCCJ courts.

All in all, we’re really happy with everyone who decided to make FCCJ their home for the next couple of years. We expect each of these talented student–athletes to put in a lot of time and work—in the classroom, on the court and in the weight room—that will help them realize our goals, not the least of which is graduation and another trip to the national tournament where FCCJ belongs.

So come on ladies, we gotta roll now.

The Stars are preparing for a rugged 30 game season. Getting a lot of weight room work, a lot of road work and a lot of court work. Seeing a lot NCAA Division I and Division II teams will be good for the girls—it might not make them happy but will be good for them. We hope the injury bug doesn’t come calling on us. If it does our fine trainer Sonja Thigpen will take care of them like she has for the past several years.

2004–05 sophomore Viviana Rojas finished her time at Flagler College in St. Augustine. Frida Alegard played out her time at Midwestern State University, Kristen Thomas played at the University of Texas at Tyler, Melanie Eng did her last two years at the University of Florida (UNF), Iskra Nikolovska finished at St. Leo University, Melihova moves over to UNF, Dillet went to Eckerd College, Krista Bastien went to Flagler College, the list goes on and on.

Hey girls, watch out for that MySpace page—be careful.