Preview: CSU tennis begins Mountain West play riding momentum

March 29, 2017

Preview #13 (PDF) / Roster / Schedule

Colorado State at Boise State
Friday, March 31 / 12 p.m. MT / Appleton Outdoor Tennis Center / Boise, Idaho
Live Scoring

Colorado State at Utah State
Sunday, April 2 / 10 a.m. MT / Sports Academy & Racquet Club / Logan, Utah
Live Video / Live Scoring

RAMS SET TO BEGIN CONFERENCE PLAY RIDING MOMENTUM
The Colorado State tennis team heads to Boise State and Utah State this weekend for its first Mountain West contests of the season, and enters conference play riding some momentum. The Rams are coming off of a two-win weekend in Nebraska, defeating Creighton and Omaha. It marked the first time since 2014 that CSU has won back-to-back matches away from home.

“It’s exciting to enter Mountain West action,” head coach Jarod Camerota said. “Boise State and Utah State are both good teams, but they are beatable if we play hard, smart and control our emotions. It’s not going to be easy, and every point is going to be a battle. That is just how conference matches are and that’s why they are fun.”

Last Saturday against Creighton, the Bluejays led 3-1 before CSU managed to claw back into the contest with three consecutive singles victories from Sandra Keta, Madison Porter and Alyssa Grijalva. Keta, a freshman, won at No. 5 singles with a 7-5 victory in the first set, before a more comfortable 6-3 win in the second. Porter (No. 6) also won a tight opening frame (7-6) before winning the second, 6-3, to win her match and tie the overall score at 3-3.

On the final court, Grijalva was battling her opponent, Katherine Nelson. The freshman won a tight first frame by a score of 7-6 before falling in the second in another close battle, 7-5. The entire match came down to the final set, which Grijalva won, 6-3. CSU also won the doubles point in impressive fashion.

The following day at Omaha, CSU again won the doubles point and took a 2-0 lead thanks to a Grijalva straight-sets victory. Omaha won two of the next three points before CSU closed with back-to-back wins to clinch the match.

The doubles point was highly contested throughout the contest, with Omaha winning at the No. 1 spot before the Rams (Riley Reeves and Celine Voss) took the win at No. 2. Coming down to the No. 3 matchup, Keta and Porter defeated Omaha, 6-2, to give the Rams an early 1-0 lead in the match. The duo improved to 3-1 on the spring season while playing together.

In addition to Grijalva, Voss (No. 4), Keta (No. 5) and Porter (No. 6) were also victorious in singles. After dropping the initial set, 6-4, Voss won the second by the same score before finalizing the comeback with a 6-2 win in Set 3. Keta’s match (No. 5) also took three sets, including a first-set tiebreaker that was decided at 22-20. Her third set was played entirely as a tiebreaker, winning 10-7. Like Grijalva, Porter won in straight sets.

Several Rams had strong weekends, including Grijalva, who went 2-0 in singles play, and Keta and Porter, who went a combined 6-0 between singles and doubles.

Under first-year coach Camerota, the Rams have now notched six victories this spring, which surpasses last season’s total.

“I think we are growing, and this stretch of the schedule gets tough,” he said. “Winning feels good and it breeds more winning, but by no means are we content with where we are at. We still have stuff to work on and get better at.”

CSU and Boise State have played each season since the Broncos joined the MW in 2012, with Boise State winning each time. CSU and Utah State have played each season since 2014, with the Rams' last win in the series coming in 2009.

SCOUTING THE FOES:

Boise State enters Friday’s match with a 10-5 mark, including 7-3 at home. Before losing to No. 42 UNLV last week, the Broncos had won three matches in a row.
The Broncos has four players with at least nine singles victories, led by Anja Dokic, who is 10-2.
Boise State has depth to their lineup, posting a 21-11 mark at their No. 1 through 3 singles positions and an 18-13 record from No. 4 through 6.
Boise State’s No. 3 doubles team of Nancy Menjivar and Kristy Venter are 4-0 this spring.
Six of Boise State’s eight players are international, with four hailing from Europe, one from South America and another from Australia.
Boise State is coached by Beck Roghaar, now in his seventh season.
Utah State enters the weekend with a 9-6 mark, including a near-perfect record of 5-1 at home.
The Aggies are coming off a tough weekend, losing to both Georgetown and BYU by scores of 4-3. Prior to hosting CSU, Utah State faces Wyoming on Friday.
Sean McInerney is the head coach of the Aggies. He is in his fourth season.

PORTER EARNS COMMUNITY SERVICE HONORS
Rams’ senior Madison Porter was named to the All-Mountain West Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Community Service Team. The conference, in an effort to recognize the accomplishments of student-athletes beyond the field of competition, named one athlete from each institution who goes above and beyond to help promote and participate in community service initiatives. Porter is also a three-time Academic All-Mountain West honoree and two-time Mountain West Scholar-Athlete.

STEEP COMPETITION
CSU earned four victories early in the season, but it’s the recent losses that could help the Rams grow the most. CSU’s three losses between Feb. 19 and March 4 came against some of the top teams in the nation. On Feb. 19, CSU lost to Nebraska, who two weeks later entered the ITA rankings at No. 39. The following trip, CSU was defeated by No. 40 FIU (now No. 30) and No. 46 UNLV, in addition to beating UC Riverside.

CAMEROTA EARNS FIRST VICTORY
CSU earned a split Jan. 28-29, beating Milwaukee before falling to Wisconsin of the Big Ten. Despite playing on the road, CSU had more than 50 fans at both matches, playing in the home state of head coach Jarod Camerota and sophomore Emily Kolbow, and nearby several other current, future and former Rams.

‘We appreciate the tremendous support all weekend,” Camerota said. “It’s great to see how much fan support we have all across the country. We learned and grew from this weekend.”

CSU’s win over Milwaukee was the first for Camerota, who is in his first season leading the Rams. Overall, all seven players won either their singles or doubles match against Milwaukee, with Kolbow winning both.

FALL REWIND
The Rams competed in four fall tournaments from September-November, allowing the four freshmen to adjust to the college game and for the entire team to jell together under first-year head coach Jarod Camerota. During the fall, the Rams used 15 different doubles lineups, leaning heavily on the veteran duo of seniors Madison Porter and Celine Voss (3-1). In singles action, freshman Riley Reeves proved to be a great addition to the Rams' roster, picking up six victories, with several coming from the No. 3 post.

"On the last day of the fall, the final day at UNLV, I think the light turned on in our heads that we can be a good team," Camerota said. "We are a young team, but that's exciting."

RETURNING TO THE COURT
Returning to the court this spring are three players from last year's roster, a trio that entered with more than 50 career singles wins and more than 60 doubles victories.

Senior Celine Voss is the veteran of the group, playing in her fourth season with the program. Additionally, Madison Porter (New Mexico) began her collegiate career elsewhere before finding her home at CSU. Porter enters her senior spring season with 57 career victories to her name (27 singles, 30 doubles), Just a freshman last year, Emily Kolbow earned six singles wins -- competing at the No. 1-3 positions -- and a team-high-tying five doubles victories. Late in the year, she won three singles matches in a row.

NEWCOMERS MAKING THEIR MARK
Four true freshmen made their collegiate debuts in September, and each immediately made a mark on the program.

Riley Reeves led all players with six singles victories, in addition to five doubles wins -- mostly at the No. 1 position, while Sandra Keta ranked second on the team with five singles wins (plus three doubles wins). Alyssa Grijalva competed at No. 1 doubles and No. 2 singles for the majority of the fall, advancing to the Air Force Invitational Flight A championship, and Solene Crawley advanced to the Rebel Invitational Flight 3 doubles championship.

CAMEROTA AT THE HELM
For the first time in 31 seasons, the Colorado State tennis program is under a new direction. Longtime coach Jon Messick retired following the 2015-16 season, and over the summer, Jarod Camerota -- his assistant during his final year -- was named the head coach.

"We are excited to have Jarod remain at Colorado State, where he made an immediate impact during his time as assistant coach," director of athletics Joe Parker said at the time of his hiring. "Throughout our national search, it become evident that Jarod had the ability to not only relate to our current student-athletes but also recruit talented players who will become the next wave of our tennis program.

Prior to his one season at CSU, Camerota was an assistant at Northern Arizona (2014-15), helping the Lumberjacks to a fourth-place finish and a semifinals berth in the Big Sky Conference championship. Before NAU, he spent two seasons (2012-14) as a tennis pro at Northwestern. Camerota has previous head coaching experience, as well, holding three head coaching jobs. From 2005-07, he was the head men's and women's tennis coach at Jacksonville University, followed by a stint as the men's tennis coach at Georgia State from 2007-09, and three years (2009-12) as the head men's and women's tennis coach at Mars Hill College.

MEDLIN JOINS STAFF
After being named head coach, one of Camerota's first objectives was completing his coaching staff. He did that by bringing in Erica Medlin.

"Erica was my first choice, even before I got the job," Camerota said. "I hired her because of her maturity and ability to coach, and she has incredible loyalty. She was also a great player, but that's secondary to her being a great coach and a hard worker."

Medlin came to CSU after one season (2015-16) as the assistant coach for Northern Arizona. During her stint in Flagstaff, Medlin helped the Lumberjacks to a Big Sky regular-season championship and runner-up finish in the conference tournament. Four of her players earned All-Big Sky honors, with the top doubles team ranking No. 81 nationally. She is a former collegiate tennis player, spending two years at San José State and her final two seasons at Northern Iowa. As a senior in 2015, Medlin was named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year. She also earned two All-WAC honors as SJSU, helping the Spartans to their first-ever NCAA appearance.

INK DRYING
The CSU tennis staff announced In November the signings of three athletes. The trio of Emma Corwin, Emily Luetschwager and Priscilla Palermo signed on the first day of the early signing period and all are four-star recruits according to TennisRecruiting.net.

"All three are really good students, good kids and good competitors on the court, and we think they'll bring a lot to our program," Camerota said about the trio who signed in November and will join the program in the fall. "They're good players, but they're hungry and want to get better. I see a lot of potential for each of them to grow."

About Corwin: Will be a 2017 graduate of Brookfield East High School in Brookfield, Wis. ... Three-time Greater Metro Conference champion, winning as a freshman, sophomore and senior... As a senior in 2016, placed third at the Wisconsin state tournament... Helped her school to three consecutive conference championships, placing second at state as a junior in 2015... Was a four-time team MVP and three-year captain for the Spartans... High school coach was Linda Lied... Has been named to the honor roll each semester.
About Luetschwager: Will be a 2017 graduate of Stevens Point Area Senior High School... Back-to-back Wisconsin Division I state champion in 2015 and 2016, also placing fifth in both 2013 and 2014 as a freshman and sophomore... Four-time Wisconsin Valley Conference first-team selection... Helped lead the Panthers to four conference titles, also earning four individual championships at No. 1 singles... Finished her prep career 130-5, never losing a conference match... Was a three-sport athlete, earning eight total letters in tennis, track & field and gymnastics... State qualifier in gymnastics in 2015... Captain in tennis and track & field... High school tennis coach was Gary Baier.... Three-time academic letterwinner, also earning the 2016 AP Scholar with Honor Award... Member of the National Honor Society.
About Palermo: Will be a 2017 graduate of Glenbard East High School in Lombard, Ill. ... Held a career prep record of 55-8, becoming the only player in her school's history to win sectionals (Chicago)... Ranked as the No. 13 player in the Midwest Region by TennisRecruiting.net... Earned all-state and team MVP honors as a freshman in 2014... Earned two varsity letters, only playing her freshman and sophomore seasons... High school coach was William Burt... Also trained under Tom Lockhart... Four-time honor student and member of the National Honor Society.

BOOKS ARE A TOOL OF THE TRADE
The CSU tennis program had the highest team grade-point average of any CSU team in 2015-16, with all seven letterwinners earning Academic All-Mountain West honors. Additionally, for the seventh season in a row, the Rams' entire program earned a cumulative team GPA above 3.20 to earn ITA Academic Team honors, with four student-athletes being named ITA Scholar-Athletes. Included in the group is senior Madison Porter, who is a three-time Academic All-MW recipient and two-time ITA Scholar-Athlete.

2015-16 HIGHLIGHTS

Following back-to-back losses to Seattle and Grand Canyon to begin the spring, CSU rattled off four consecutive home wins. CSU beat CSU-Pueblo (6-1) and Metro State (6-1) on consecutive nights before blanking Colorado College, 7-0, two weeks later. The Rams wouldn't play on their home court again until April 12, but when they finally did, they beat Northern Colorado, 4-3, to extend the streak to four contests.
Overall, CSU was 4-1 against teams from the Centennial State, with its only loss coming at Colorado in early March.
Three of CSU's losses came to nationally ranked teams, including No. 45 New Mexico and No. 67 Cal State Fullerton. The Rams also played two teams receiving votes.
CSU did not play on its home court from late February until the second week of April, spanning more than seven weeks and eight matches. 
The Rams snapped a seven-match losing streak in April with back-to-back wins over Nebraska Omaha (4-0) and Northern Colorado (4-3).

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