Women boast No. 7 ranked recruiting class in the nation

With the No. 7 recruiting class in the nation, the women’s tennis team prepares to open its season with the addition of several top prospects. Among the new arrivals is Nicole Bartnik, who was highly ranked as No. 5 in the U.S. The team, which has not won an Ivy League match the past two seasons, lost Nina Suda and Linnae Goswami to graduation in the spring. This fall, head coach Ilene Weintraub hopes to make up for their departure with the second-highest recruiting class in the Ancient Eight.

The team will play a series of fall tournaments both in preparation for its conference matchups in the spring and to allow individuals and doubles teams to bolster their rankings.

“The fall season provides us with an opportunity for individual match play which allows us to see where we stand and what we need to work on,” Weintraub said. “Our team’s goals for the fall are to compete well and have as many girls [as possible] qualify for the ITA Regionals, which provides an automatic bid into the ITA National Indoor Championships.”

The majority of Columbia’s roster from last season is returning, but Weintraub is hopeful that the freshmen recruits will strengthen the slightly weakened starting line.

Bartnik, who is originally from Bradenton, Fla., is one of the most accomplished players to enter Columbia in the past decade. Ranked as high as No. 5 in the U.S. and No. 86 internationally, she brings world-class experience with her to Morningside. Among the highlights of Bartnik’s standout junior career was defeating Wimbledon junior champion Laura Robson. Bartnik beat Robson in three sets en route to the quarterfinals of the Eddie Herr International Junior Tennis Championships, which is one of the biggest junior tournaments in the world.

Chelsea Davis comes to Columbia from San Francisco and was ranked as high as No. 38 in the nation. She was ranked 17th in the tennis hotbed of California last season and is currently ranked No. 82 nationally.

Katarina Kovacevic hails from the Dwight School in New York City and was named a city all-star by the New York Daily News. She also advanced to the semifinals of the Mayor’s Cup in 2007 while being ranked No. 152 in the nation and No. 9 in New York state.

Rounding out the recruiting class is Diana Shapoval, who comes from Warren, N.J. Shapoval and went 24-1 as a senior in high school as she advanced to the state quarterfinals.
“We have a talented freshman class and I am excited to see them begin their collegiate careers at Columbia,” Weintraub said. “I could not be more excited about the future of our program.”