ERAU Women’s Tennis Places Four on All-America Roster
KANSAS CITY, Kan. – The Embry-Riddle women’s tennis team was one of only four programs in the country with four or more student-athletes named to the All-America roster, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics announced on Saturday. Natasa Zoricic and Yi Ching Chen garnered first team honors, while Josefine Strom and Caroline Nilsson earned second team honors.
A third-year senior with the Eagles, Zoricic closed out her career as the most decorated player in ERAU women’s tennis history. 2010 marks the third time that she has been named a first team All-American and earlier this week she was tabbed as the ITA/NAIA Player of the Year. Zoricic won the ITA/Regional crown in 2008 and 2009 and was selected as The Sun Conference Player of the Year in 2009 and 2010. She posted a 36-27 career singles record and a 50-28 mark in doubles, including a 23-9 clip when paired with Chen in 2010. She is ranked seventh in singles and ninth in doubles according to the latest ITA/NAIA poll.
Chen transferred to Embry-Riddle in the fall of 2009 and immediately put her mark on the program. She earned Sun Conference Player of the Week honors twice and was named to the All-Conference first team. In addition to her noted success with Zoricic in doubles play, Chen was also dominant in singles and concluded her first year with the program by setting an ERAU single-season record for wins with 27, nine of which were shutouts.
Like Chen, Strom was a transfer in 2009-10 and the sophomore also eclipsed the previous single-season win record of 22, with a 25-7 mark on the year. Strom was a second team All-Conference honoree and turned in an 18-12 doubles record.
Saturday’s recognition was also the second national honor of the week for Nilsson who was named the ITA/NAIA Rookie of the Year and ERAU’s Champion of Character at the national tournament banquet on Monday. Nilsson first stepped on the court for the Eagles this spring and closed out her inaugural season with a 16-9 singles record. She was named The Sun Conference Player of the Week on Mar. 29 and joined Strom as a second team All-Conference selection.
As a team, the Eagles enjoyed one of the most successful campaigns in program history. The Blue and Gold captured both the Sun Conference regular season and tournament titles, marking the first time that an ERAU squad won both crowns in the same season. They advanced to the second round of the NAIA National Tournament before closing out the season at 16-11 overall.