Newcomers Aim To Keep Program On The Rise
November 15, 2016 | Women's Tennis
After losing three seniors to graduation at the end of last season, head coach Robin Stephenson continued her success here at Washington in recruiting, bringing three new players to Seattle in the nation's eighth ranked class according to TennisRecruiting.net. Joining the women's tennis team this season are freshman Katarina Kopcalic and Lana Slavica, and junior transfer Alexis Prokopuik.
While all three claim hometowns outside of the United States, Prokopuik joins the program from Georgia Tech, where Stephenson previously coached as a volunteer assistant.
"I really liked what robin had to say to me whenever I talked to her," said Prokopuik. "It sounded like she really cared about the girls on and off the court and has such a good record behind her."
In her first two years of college tennis at Georgia Tech, the West Vancouver, Canada native accumulated over 40 singles wins, going 25-8 as a sophomore including a 10-match win streak during conference play. In her first few months as a Husky, she has already picked up six singles wins, including a 6-3, 6-1 win over No. 102 Tina Bukhua of Texas A&M at the David Kent Invitational.
"Everybody works really hard and I think we have such a good bond already," said Prokopuik. "I hope to be a team leader in their eyes, since I have an idea as a junior how college tennis works and what to expect."
The second Canadian native in the class, Kopcalic hails from Toronto, where her friendships she made in her home country eventually helped lead her to becoming a Husky.
"Stacey is from Canada, Robin grew up there and Alexis is from there too, so I knew them from before," said Kopcalic. "That's one of the reasons why I came here, and they've helped me connect with the other girls so it's been great."
The freshman saw tons of success growing up in her native country, playing for Canada in the U14 Junior World Cup, and being crowned the National singles champion in U12, U16 and U18, as well as a two-time national doubles champion at the U16 level. A two-time G4 ITF doubles winner and the 2015 G3 ITF champion in Tunisia, she has already grabbed six wins in singles this fall, as well as four in doubles.
On top of her Canadian connections with the team, Kopcalic has found ease in integrating herself with the team through fellow freshman Slavica.
"Lana is Croatian and I'm Serbian, so we kind of speak similar dialects and can understand each other," said Kopcalic. "I'm rooming with her as well which has been really nice."
The third member of the 2016 class joins the Huskies from Zagreb, Croatia, and is the seventh international member on the roster this season. The University's great reputation is what drew her to the program initially.
"I was looking for a Division I school and saw pictures of Washington," said Slavica. "I also saw the tennis rankings and that the academics here were good and that it's one of the top colleges in America. I visited the team in Seattle last January and I liked it a lot."
Slaivca was the winner of the Croatian Team National Women's Tennis Championship in 2015, and won the Croatian National Junior Tennis Championships in 2013 for U16. Holding a career-high ITF ranking of 141, she was the winner at the Indoor Croatian National Junior Tennis Championships in 2013, and reached the finals at the U16 Croatian National Junior Tennis Championships in 2012.
"The team is really nice and supportive," said Slavica. "We practice a lot and are always together hanging out. I love playing on a team, and I think it's cool to play together and have good friends here."
Each hold high expectations for a team that reached a national ranking as high as 19th last season, and are confident in their ability to help improve their own game while elevating the program together.
"I expect good results this year because I think we're all good players," said Slavica. "For me however, I just want to improve my mental toughness and I think the coaches can help me a lot with that."
The two freshman look to settle in to their new home here at Washington and are concentrated on helping in any way they can this season.
"My goal as a freshman here is to get used to everything, get in a groove with the team and just integrate myself and see how things go," said Kopcalic. "I'd like to just work hard and get to know all of my coaches better and see what I need to work on and improve from there."
With over half of the team consisting of underclassmen, the future looks bright for the Washington women's tennis team. This season's newcomers look to help continue the upward trend here in Seattle, and keep the momentum going in a program on the rise.
"I think we can go as far as the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament this year," said Prokopuik. "I have no doubt that we can do that."
The Huskies will be back in action on January 12th when they begin the 2017 regular season in Hawai'i. You can keep up with the team by following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as well as checking in on our website at GoHuskies.com.
