The University of Akron Athletics
Tennis Inks Player From Thailand, Wraps Up 2009-10 Class
May 26 | Women's Tennis
AKRON, Ohio – Prang Pantusart, who hails from Amphur Muang in the province of Nonthaburi in Thailand, has signed a national letter of intent to compete for the University of Akron tennis team beginning in the 2009-10 season. The signing of Pantusart completes UA head coach Jeffrey Wyshner's recruiting class for the upcoming campaign and she joins twins Angelina and Angelika Jogasuria, from Serpong, Indonesia, in the Zips' incoming class.
Pantusart holds a career-high International Tennis Federation
(ITF) ranking of No. 173 (as of April) and maintains a career ITF
singles record of 31-22 to go with a 35-20 mark against doubles
competition. She has tallied three wins in the last year over
players with career-high WTA (the women's pro tour) rankings in the
top 900. A listing of three of her high-quality victories is
below:
• 6-2, 1-6, 7-5 win in August 2008 over Chun-Yan He (China),
No. 771 on the WTA tour.
• 6-3, 6-4 win in October 2008 over Kyra Shroff (Indonesia),
No. 89 ITF.
• 6-3, 6-1 win in March 2009 over Ashvarya Shrivastava
(Indonesia), No. 168 ITF.
Pantusart graduated from the Distance Education Institute.
"I am excited to add another very talented, tournament-experienced
and highly-motivated player to our recruiting class for next year,"
Wyshner said. "Prang has extensive ITF experience, playing against
world-class players, and as a result, I am confident in her ability
to have an immediate impact as a freshman. Her commitment to
playing ITF tournaments throughout southeast Asia is proof of her
passion for the sport, and that should help her to continue to
develop her skills over the next four years."
In November 2008, Wyshner added the Jogasuria sisters to his 2009-10 roster. In February, that recruiting class (with Pantusart included as an unsigned commitment) was ranked as one of the best in the nation, according to a poll released by TennisRecruiting.net. The Zips were one of 14 teams listed in the others receiving votes category in the top-25 balloting, tying Connecticut and Missouri with six tallies apiece (view poll). Further, Akron was the only school from the state of Ohio on the list and one of two Mid-American Conference programs to be recognized (Western Michigan received five votes). That marked the second-consecutive year that UA's recruiting class was mentioned among the nation's best (received three votes in 2008, view poll).
I'm really looking forward to next season," Wyshner said. "We
will be a very young team with no seniors, but while young, our
players bring a great deal of experience to the table. Our schedule
will be a huge challenge with four nationally-ranked teams (DePaul,
Louisville, Michigan State and UCF) being added, but I am confident
that with hard work we can now be successful on that level."
The Akron tennis program is expecting to have its 2009-10 schedule
officially completed next month. Check back with GoZips.com for
further updates.
The Zips posted one of their most successful seasons in program
history in 2008-09 – all part of the resurgence of the program
under Wyshner. Akron (15-8, 4-4 MAC) wrapped up the regular season
with a winning record for the first time since the 1995-96 squad
finished 12-9, and the Zips' four MAC victories were the most in
team history (program went 3-3 in 1992-93 and 3-6 in 1998-99 in MAC
play). UA also earned a bye out of the league championship's
opening round for the first time since the event went to its
current format in 2000.
Akron's season was also highlighted by the naming of freshman Zara Harutyunyan as league player of the year and
to the All-MAC First Team. She is the first-ever Zips' tennis
player and first freshman to earn that honor. UA sophomore Anna Baronayte was named to the All-MAC Second
Team. Harutyunyan and Baronayte (a transfer from West Virginia
State) make up Akron's above mentioned nationally-ranked 2008
recruiting class.
The Zips finished the regular season in a tie with Toledo (13-9,
4-4 MAC) for fifth place in the league standings – one
position better than the spot in which the program was picked to
finish in a preseason poll of the conference's head coaches, and
four positions higher than the squad has finished in each of the
last two seasons. Sixth-seeded UA lost 4-0 to third-seeded Western
Michigan in the quarterfinal round of the MAC Championship on April
24.
Players Mentioned
