After a 17-2 start, the Nova Southeastern University Women’s Tennis team has been recognized as a top program in Division-II by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. The ITA ranked NSU as the No. 2 team in the nation in their most recent poll. While NSU did spend three matches as the No. 1 team in the country, a loss to Barry set the team back to No. 2 overall. How has their season gone thus far?
Head coach Doug Neagle’s team has gotten out to a great start and owns a 7-2 record vs. ranked opponents. Their only two losses came against Indianapolis and Barry, teams that were ranked No. 2 at the time of the matchup. Now, Barry is the undoubted No. 1 team in the nation with NSU following shortly behind.
Neagle’s preferred singles lineup is set in stone. He starts it off with grad transfer Julie Razafindranaly (11-1), junior Natalie Espinal follows (11-1), then redshirt senior Karolina Snita steps up third (11-0), grad student Zala Dovnik trails her (6-3), the five spot is for junior Diane Follin-Arbelet (8-2) and the final selection is grad student Nika Kozar (4-4). Senior Chantal Nosievici (7-1) and freshman Eva Goncharov (3-2) have filled in during the season and contributed.
In singles, NSU has a team record of 88-16 (.846). The team dominates the first three matches, racking up a 51-2 record (.962). The final three rounds are where the struggles come in, as their cumulative record is 37-14 (.725). While that percentage is still good, improvement is needed to take down the top teams.
When it comes to individual rankings, NSU has six players appear in the ITA Top 75 Singles players. In addition, NSU is the only school in Division-II to have two players in the top six overall. Espinal (No. 3) attains a dominant 15-1 record (.937). Razafindranaly (No. 6) sports a 14-1 overall record after transferring to NSU from rival Barry. Kozar (No. 30) owns a high ranking despite her 6-5 record due to the fact that four of her losses came against ranked opponents. Snita (No. 51) has an impressive 15-0 record in singles. Even though she is a doubles expert, Nosievici (No. 72) still owns a ranking in singles after just eight appearances. Five of the six players in the six-player rotation own a ranking from the ITA’s Top 75, giving NSU a deep rotation.
From a doubles perspective, NSU has a total record of 44-9 (.830). Coach Neagle’s strategy is clear. Start the match off strong and finish it in the final round with a strong closer. The first doubles match for Coach Neagle is a combo of Espinal and Nosievici (12-1). The dominant duo is ranked No. 3 in the nation by ITA. Up next is the duo Razafindranaly and Follin-Arbelet (4-0). The third and final group to play is the elite partnership of Dovnik and Kozar (8-0). The highly touted tandem is ranked No. 9 in Division-II. Much like the singles, NSU’s doubles teams are ranked highly by the ITA.
The NCAA South Region Tournament begins on May 6 and ends the following day on May 7. Following the conclusion of that tournament, the NCAA Division-II Tennis Championship starts on May 17 and goes on until May 21. Expect to see plenty of Sharks in these tournaments.
