Tennis Inks Luize Liva Strike
5/28/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
May 28, 2014
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - Coming off the most successful season the program has seen in over a decade - one which ended with a shutout victory over Butler at the BIG EAST Tournament - the Seton Hall tennis team has added Luize Liva Strike (Riga, Latvia) for the 2014-15 season head coach Greg Wyzykowski announced on Wednesday.
"We are extremely pleased to welcome a player of Luize's caliber to our program," said Wyzykowski. "She has extensive experience competing against high level opponents and possesses a well-rounded skill set that will enable her to contribute on both the singles and doubles courts."
One of the most accomplished junior players in her native Latvia, Strike has been a member of the Latvian National Team on several levels, traveling abroad to represent her country at the European Junior Championships on three occasions.
Domestically, she posted a total of six top-three finishes at the Latvian National Championships between singles and doubles; most notably capturing the 2012 U18 individual title before advancing back to the final the following year. Strike completed 2013 as the fifth-ranked U18 player and among the top-20 female players in the country according to the Latvian national rankings.
One of several new faces who will suit up for the Pirates in the fall, Strike appears poised to make an immediate impact for a Seton Hall squad that continues to improve. According to the advanced metrics utilized by the UniversalTennis.com rating system, her level of play is on par with many of the top players from around the BIG EAST Conference.
She joins Texas product Marisa Quevedo, who signed her National Letter of Intent earlier this spring, as newcomers who have been announced and will add to a new-look Pirate contingent that will feature 2014 All-BIG EAST performer Hannah Liljekvist (Djursholm, Sweden) as well as veterans Madison Shoemaker (Halfmoon Bay, British Columbia) and Julia Keenan (Greenland, N.H.) - who each topped the 20-win mark in 2013-14 - and senior Anna Guryanova (Moscow, Russia) who has won over 60 percent of her singles matches in each one of the past three seasons.
