Thursday, June 21, 2012

Head Tennis Coach Gordon Graham Announces Three Newcomers for 2012-13

Al­­bany, N.Y.- UAlbany Head Tennis Coach Gordon Graham announced that three new student-athletes will be added to the 2012-13 roster. UAlbany finished the 2011-12 season with an overall record of 11-14 and fifth in the conference, defeating Hartford in the consolation bracket, 4-0.
"These new players are going to help give us a deeper, more competitive team, and on top of that they are hard workers who all have their best tennis ahead of them", said Head Coach Gordon Graham on his three newcomers. " This is an exciting time for Great Dane tennis. We are a team that is moving onward and upward with the goal to be "in the hunt" for the America East title soon. Adding these three players ,with the returnees we have, will be a big step in that direction."

ELKE VROMANS: Ht: 5'11" Previous School: WICO Campus Sint-Jozef Hometown: Lommel, Belgium
A big-serving, aggressive baseliner with some big wins in her recent history, including a straight sets win over Debbrich Feys, former Belgian Fed Cup player, who has been ranked as high as #341 in singles and #180 in doubles in the WTA. She also recorded a win over Astrid Leclere, ranked #47 in Belgium. This right-hander has a big forehand and serve, and a two-handed backhand. The only child of Eddy Vromans and Eliane Janssenswillen, Elke started playing tennis at 9 and loves the game. She also enjoys music and plays the keyboard, and is planning on studying Economics at UAlbany.



COACH GRAHAM on VROMANS: "Elke is a technically-solid player with some big weaponry. She is working hard on her strength, her movement and her net skills to complement her powerful backcourt game.

MIREILLE HERMANS: Ht: 5'10" Previous School: Veluws College Hometown: Twello, Netherlands
Hermans is a solid player with good international tournament experience and results. She finished in the Top 8 of her age group in the Netherlands in 2009 and 2011, and was ranked in the Top 120 women in the Netherlands in 2010. From 2010 on, Hermans geared down her tennis time commitment to focus on her academics. She started tennis at 5 years old and plans to play it the rest of her life. She is undecided on her course of study at UAlbany, but is interested in psychology, pre med and mathematics. Her father Peter owns his own business and her mother, Petra, is a physiotherapist and now works for the Dutch Tennis Federation. She has two older sisters, both studying at a university in the Netherlands.

COACH GRAHAM on HERMANS: "Mireille is going to be a great addition to our team in terms of her talent, her work-ethic and her team spirit. She is passionate about getting better and I expect her game will take a big jump forward in this program. Mireille is extremely coachable, eager to improve, a hard worker, and already an accomplished player."

CATHRYN (CAT) CRUMMEY: Ht: 5'3" Previous School: Shaker H.S Hometown: Loudonville, NY
Crummey is a highly recognized local player who played No. 1 for Shaker H.S all four years, played in the NY State HS Championships five times, finished 4th as a senior, and was voted the Sportsmanship Award winner at that tournament as a senior. She has represented the USTA Eastern region at the Zonal National Championships twice and helped her 2010 team win the silver medal by winning six of her 10 matches. She also has played Team Tennis in the 1B and 1A National Championships where she recorded a win over a five-star recruit. She was honored by the Times Union as the 2nd best athlete in the Capital District this year and was also Tennis MVP of the Year in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Crummey has been an honor roll student throughout high school and is intending to study business at UAlbany. Her father Peter is the Judge of the Town of Colonie, NY, and her mother Caron works at Hinman Straub. Both parents were college athletes; her father captained the Boston College swimming team and her mother dove for Williams College. Both her older sisters, Carol and Conna, went to Boston College. Her younger sister Canon and younger brother Peter both attend Shaker HS. Aside from her tennis, Crummey enjoys skiing, golf, diving, running and swimming.

COACH GRAHAM on CRUMMEY: "Cat is one of the toughest competitors I have seen. She will fight tooth and nail for a match. She is a good athlete who is a much better tennis player than her ranking and record. She can get a lot better in college with regular training, coaching and competition. Cat has a big forehand and the foot speed to get around a lot of balls to use that weapon.

Press release & photo by UAlbany Athletics
 

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