THE PATRICKS ON CASTELLVI: “Vilmarie has worked extremely hard every year to improve her game, which has translated into unmatched success on the court. She brings a lot of experience and toughness to our team. As one of the top collegiate players, we’re looking for her to have another spectacular season this spring at the top spot.”

SENIOR (FALL 2002): Entered the fall as the nation’s No. 1-ranked player, the highest ever for a Lady Vol…Also placed No. 23 in doubles with Melissa Schaub…Won her first title on the USTA Professional Circuit on Aug. 4 at the Rockingham Heritage Bank/USTA Women’s Professional Tennis Tournament by defeating Varvara Lepchenko of Uzbekistan, 6-2, 6-0…Ran off four straight wins to open the fall to win the adidas Invitational, upending No. 16 Amanda Johnson of Duke, 6-2, 6-0, for the crown…Followed her title at the adidas Invitational by winning the first flight of singles at the St. Mary’s Fall Classic…Trounced eighth-ranked Kate Pinchbeck of North Carolina in the finals, 6-1, 6-2…Castellvi and Schaub also won the doubles crown in the first flight by defeating UNC’s Pinchbeck and Bunn, 9-7…After winning her opening round matchup with Florida’s 19th-ranked Julie Rotondi at the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships, Castellvi fell to Amber Liu of Stanford in the second round, ending her eight-match winning streak…She closed out her fall at the Omni Hotels Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, falling in the final of the consolation tournament to Alice Barnes of Stanford in three sets…Ended the fall with an 11-3 singles mark and a 4-1 doubles record with Schaub…Castellvi’s 11 singles victories gave her 106 for her career, fourth highest in school history.­

JUNIOR (2001-02): Recorded one of the most impressive seasons in Lady Vol tennis history, helping Tennessee to its first Final Four appearance…Finished with a remarkable 44-8 mark in singles and a 31-15 doubles record with Agnes Wiski and Breanna Kray…Her 95 career singles victories at the conclusion of her junior season put her at No. 8 on UT’s all-time list, while her 71 doubles wins placed ninth…Earned All-SEC second-team honors…Finished the season ranked No. 4 by the ITA, the highest ranking ever achieved by a UT player at the time…Was named an All-American in singles…Ended the season ranked 15th in doubles with Wiski…Named the team’s Most Valuable Player and Most Improved Player…Was recognized as Lady Vol Athlete of the Year by UT Athletics Director Joan Cronan in June 2002…Reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Singles Championships before falling to Stanford’s Gabriella Lastra, 6-2, 6-4…Castellvi split time during the regular season at the No. 1 and No. 2 singles positions with Alison Ojeda…She went 14-3 at the top spot and 10-1 at the No. 2 slot for a 24-4 dual match record…Castellvi finished with a 17-3 tourney mark, winning two crowns at the St. Mary’s Fall Classic and the National Collegiate Tennis Classic…Her win at the NCTC included three straight victories over ranked opponents from tennis powerhouse Stanford, two of whom were ranked in the top 15 nationally…Highest ranked player she defeated was then-No. 4 ranked Laura Kalvaria of Stanford, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, on Jan. 19 at the NCTC…Castellvi put together a string of 10 consecutive wins from Nov. 11 to Feb. 8, defeating six ranked players and four in the top 25…After dropping a match to Wake Forest’s Janet Bergman on Feb. 9, Castellvi ran off 14 straight wins, losing only one set during that stretch…In total, Castellvi was 23-7 against ranked opponents and lost only 21 sets…Played at the top spot during the NCAA Tournament, posting a 2-1 mark en route to UT’s Final Four appearance…In doubles, Castellvi and Wiski were a dominant force at the No. 1 position where they were 16-9…The duo was also 4-0 at the second spot…Castellvi finished with a 20-10 dual match record in doubles…The tandem notched a stunning upset over Mayorga and Witten of Kentucky, ranked No. 3 at the time, by an 8-6 count on March 1…Castellvi’s academic success landed her a spot on the Lady Vol Honor Roll.

SOPHOMORE (2000-01): Selected as the team’s Most Improved Player by the coaches…Carved a niche at the No. 3 singles position and earned All-SEC second team honors…Recorded a 34-14 singles record and earned a final ITA ranking of 70 in singles…Played with Alison Ojeda and Kim Gates and amassed a 24-21 doubles record…Finished the season with her second-straight appearance in the NCAA Doubles Championship, playing with Ojeda…The pair fell in the first round but earned a final ITA ranking of 29th…Notched a pair of upsets over Vanderbilt’s 48th-rated Jenny Miller, including one which sent the Lady Vols to the championship match of the SEC Tournament for the first time…Ranked No. 98 in the preseason ITA rankings…Played in one singles flight championship, losing to her doubles partner Alison Ojeda, 6-1, 7-5, at the UNLV Fall Invitational…Advanced to the second round of the ITA Southeast Regional Qualifying Championships…Teamed with Ojeda to compile a 10-4 mark in doubles play, winning two flight championships…The Orange and White duo made it to the semifinals of the ITA Southeast Regional Qualifying Championships.

FRESHMAN (1999-2000):  Made an immediate impact as a rookie, playing at No. 2 and No. 3 singles and one and three doubles…Went 12-14 in the second singles slot and 5-9 in the third position…Registered two wins over ranked opponents…The first came over No. 42 Julie DeRoo of Ole Miss on April 21…The second was a 6-2, 6-2 victory in the NCAA Tournament on May 13 against No. 86 Carolin VanRossum of William & Mary…In doubles action, Castellvi played with three different Lady Vols before settling in with Ojeda…She teamed with Candy Reid first and the duo went 1-2…Partnering with Amy Bartlett next, she went 2-1…The pairing of Castellvi and Agnes Wiski went 0-2…In 24 outings with Ojeda, the tandem ended up with a 13-11 record and ranked No. 21 by the ITA…Earned a berth in the NCAA doubles national championship with Ojeda…Exited the tournament in the first round with a loss to Georgia’s tandem of Knox-Venkatesan.

HIGH SCHOOL:  Vilmarie was the first Puerto Rican to be invited to participate in the Challenge Cup as a USTA Player…She was nationally ranked among the top 10 in the 14 and 16 age groups…As a prep athlete at Academia San Jose Villa Caparra, she was selected as her team’s first racquet…A three-year member of her country’s Federation Cup team, she traveled to numerous countries around the world competing as an I.T.F. player…Served as team captain her final year at ASJVC.

PERSONAL: Castellvi is majoring in marketing…Aspires to continue to develop her game in hopes of possibly playing on the professional tour following graduation…Her biggest thrill in sports was being invited to be part of the Fed Cup team of Puerto Rico…Lists her high school coach in Puerto Rico, Juan Carlos Escudero, as the biggest influence on her in tennis…Has one brother, Carlos, 28…Vilmarie Castellvi was born March 21, 1981, in Puerto Rico…Her parents are Luis and Vilma Castellvi.

FAVORITES

Food: Chinese food

Tennis player: Jennifer Capriati

Book: To Kill a Mocking Bird

Musical artist: Shakira

TV show: Friends

Tennis racket: Prince Graphite

Surface: Outdoors hard

Place on campus: Library

Junk food: Ice cream and cookies

Class: Marketing

Vacation spot: Hawai’i

UT athlete: My teammates

Thing to do with your free time: Talking on the phone and going to the beach

Sports memory: Beating Georgia my sophomore year and being ranked No. 1 this past fall

Post-match meal: Pizza

My dream job would be: Fashion editor of In Style magazine

Person you admire: My parents

Coach Patrick quote: “Play to win. Don’t play not to lose.”