Women's Tennis Signs Stephanie Nauta

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CHARLOTTESVILLE – The Virginia women’s tennis team announced the signing of Stephanie Nauta (Galveston, Texas) during the spring signing period. The No. 6-ranked recruit nationally, she will join the Cavalier program in 2012-13.

Nauta is the third top-15 prospect to sign with Virginia, joining Julia Elbaba (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) and Maci Epstein (Winter Park, Fla.), who both signed in the fall. Together they are the No. 1 ranked incoming class by TennisRecruiting.net.

Nauta recently competed at the ITF Spring International Championships, reaching the final in doubles and losing in three-sets to the world No. 1 junior in the singles quarterfinals. In the past year she has played all four junior Grand Slams, winning at least a round in each and advancing to the round of 16 at Roland Garros.

“We are extremely excited to have Stephanie join our women’s tennis program,” said head coach Mark Guilbeau. “Stephanie has quickly shown me that she is one of the hardest working junior players in the world. She loves to compete and has put great effort into becoming one of the best junior players in the United States and in the world. I am encouraged by the toughness she has shown on and off the courts. Her efforts to join this program and the University of Virginia have been impressive. We are all very much looking forward to having Stephanie here and will take great care to assist her in her desire to have athletic and academic success. Stephanie completes the strongest class in the history of our program, joining Julia Elbaba and Maci Epstein in the 2012 class. They will join a very accomplished team that is hungry for further development and success. The future is very bright for UVa women’s tennis.”