DeLand, Fla. - Stetson Head Women's Tennis Coach Sasha Schmid is proud to announce the signing of two high-caliber players to National Letters of Intent. Susana Aguirre (Guayaquil, Ecuador) and Sierra Sullivan (Austin, Texas) will join the Hatters as freshmen next fall.
In her native Ecuador, Aguirre has been ranked as high as fourth in her age group, reached the semifinals of the Girls 18-U national tournament and is a former JAS junior circuit champion. A graduate of Nuevo Mundo High School, the civic-minded Aguirre completed a 64-hour, four-month community service project teaching 10 adults and 10 children to read and write.
Aguirre comes from a strong line of tennis talent as her uncle Andres Gomez won 21 singles and 33 doubles titles in his ATP career, most notably the 1990 French Open singles title, where he defeated superstar Andre Agassi in the finals; Gomez also won doubles championships at the 1986 U.S. Open and 1988 French Open. Aguirre's father Martin was an NCAA Tournament doubles qualifier at Iowa and played on the Ecuadorean Davis Cup squad. The daughter of Martin Aguirre and Susana Gomez de Aguirre, Susanna was born March 10, 1992 in Guayaquil, Ecuador and has three siblings, Martin (14), Elisa (11) and Viviana (six).
"Susana is a consistent baseliner with solid ground strokes off both sides," reports Coach Schmid. "She has tremendous touch and an ability to sneak into the net as she works a point. 'Susa' immediately adds depth to our line-up in singles and doubles; I love her work ethic and determination on the court. She will be a tough out for any opponent she plays and I look forward to watching her play and improve over the next four years."
Sullivan, who graduated from the Khabele School in Austin in just three years, will arrive at Stetson as the highest-ranked American youth in program history. She has held top 150 or higher national rankings in three different age groups, top 10 sectional rankings in all of them and represented Texas on three national zone teams and the 2009 intersectional team. A district champion at Lake Travis High School before transferring to Khabele, Sullivan won a TAPPS Class 2A state singles championship and played volleyball for her new school as well. Sullivan has been a top-five ranked junior player in the Lone Star State for the last five years and chose Stetson over Arizona State, Arkansas, Army and Oklahoma State.
Sullivan also brings a strong interest and background in community service to Stetson as she earned two Capital Area Tennis Association Community Service MVP Awards for her efforts with the Set2Serve Foundation. Set2Serve teaches tennis and life skills to disadvantaged youth. She also volunteers for loveisrespect.org, the national teen help line subsidiary of the National Domestic Violence Hotline. The daughter of Tim and Lisa Sullivan, Sullivan has one younger brother, Grayson.
"Sierra is a tough left-handed baseliner who plays an aggressive game and likes to work the point until she can find an opening to move forward and close it out at the net," Coach Schmid says. "Sierra has beautiful volleys and a very talented net game as well as such a wonderful spirit and determination about her. I know she will be a positive addition to our team's singles and doubles lineups."
Aguirre and Sullivan are third and fourth incoming freshmen to commit to the Hatters for next season as Lindsey Cable (Gainesville, Fla.) and MayaBlue Stauffer-MacDowell (Asheville, N.C.) signed in the fall. Stetson tied a program record with 18 victories in the 2010 dual match season and reached the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament semifinals for the sixth year in a row. The returning cast for 2010-11 includes A-Sun Freshman of the Year Carolina de los Santos (Montevideo, Uruguay) and Second Team All-Atlantic Sun honoree Unnati Purushotham (Hyderabad, India).
