Courtesy of North Carolina Central Athletic Communications
DURHAM, N.C. — The North Carolina Central women's tennis team had its 2020 spring season cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the NCCU athletics department would like recognize its four seniors for their athletic achievements by highlighting their Eagle careers at this time in lieu of a traditional Senior Day experience.
NCCU is honoring its four seniors at this time as the 2020 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Women's Tennis Championship was originally scheduled for this weekend.
This quartet of seniors helped the NCCU women's tennis team be recognized as the NCCU Faculty Athletic Council Academic Award for small teams each of the last three seasons and an ITA All-Academic Team each of the past two campaigns. All four NCCU women's tennis seniors posted 4.0 grade point average (GPA) in the fall semester.
Senior Emily Pena is four-year letter winner for the Eagles. She has competed in 58 dual matches for the maroon and gray and has totaled six singles and 10 doubles victories. Pena garnered the NCCU women's tennis Newcomer of the Year award in 2017 and the Debra Saunders-White Leadership Award in 2019. She has also earned MEAC All-Academic Team accolades each of the past two years.
The Barquisimeto, Venezuela, native is expected to return to NCCU in the fall to complete her degree. Pena is a business administration major with a concentration in financial analytics. She plans to get a job after graduating and go backpacking through Europe. Pena's favorite tennis moment at NCCU was beating Howard University in the quarterfinals of the MEAC Women's Tennis Championships in 2019. Pena, who had a lot of ups and downs due to a back injury, partnered with Sofia Miller to win their match that day. The Eagles went on to win doubles and the match with Pena cheering on her teammates from that point. It marked the first time NCCU advanced to the semifinals in her career and capped their best season in her four years.
Senior Frida Cnossen is another four-year letter winner for the Eagles, but she was a medical red shirt in 2018. Cnossen tallied 10 singles and 10 doubles wins in 44 dual matches over the other three seasons. She bounced back from injury by earning First Team All-MEAC laurels in 2019. Cnossen has earned two MEAC Player of the Week awards, one MEAC Rookie of the Week award and is a three-time ITA Scholar-Athlete and two-time MEAC All-Academic honoree.
The resident of Laren, Netherlands, is a biomedical sciences major. Cnossen next plans to use up her last year of collegiate athletics eligibility at another institution while pursuing a masters/PhD in the biological field before eventually returning home to pursue another masters in scientific illustration, which is her ultimate goal to work in a field where you can combine science with art. Cnossen, who did an internship with Kyoto University in Japan last summer as part of the Amgen Scholars Program, reminisces that her whole experience at NCCU was amazing. She believes the journey of growing as a team and working together towards one goal makes it special. College tennis does not exist in The Netherlands, so she will always cherish the experience to play collegiately the United States.
Senior Sofia Miller played her final three seasons at NCCU after transferring in from Oakland University. She participated in 45 dual matches for the Eagles and registered nine singles and 12 doubles triumphs over that span. Miller is a two-time ITA Scholar-Athlete and a MEAC All-Academic Team honoree who earned the 2019 NCCU women's tennis Eagle Excellence (GPA) Award.
The Toronto, Canada, native is a political science major with a concentration in theory and pre-law. Miller plans to travel and work after graduation. Her favorite moment with the NCCU women's team was the same as Pena's when the Eagles advanced to the semifinals of the MEAC Women's Tennis Championship in 2019.
Senior Jurasia Horvat joined the NCCU women's team as a walk-on before the spring 2019 dual season. She collected ITA Scholar-Athlete honors before playing in her lone dual match in 2020, a doubles victory with Miller.
The local Cary, N.C., product is a business administration major with a concentration in marketing. Horvat, who is a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society, plans to get a job in sales or marketing after NCCU with aspirations to go to grad school to either obtain a MBA or law degree. Her favorite moment with the Eagles was her first road trip with the team to Wofford and Gardner-Webb, where she was able to become much closer with her teammates and coaches.