Natalie Pluskota
| School: |
University of Tennessee |
| Year: |
graduated |
| Home Town: |
Newnan |
| Home State: |
Georgia |
| Home Country: |
United States(USA) |
| High School: |
Northgate H.S. |
| Height: |
5-10 |
| Weight: |
|
| Birth Date: |
Thursday, November 02, 1989 |
| Dominant Hand: |
Right |
| Major: |
Sports Management |
| Singles Record: |
23-17 |
| Doubles Record: |
30-11 |
Updated: 2/21/12
Career Singles Record: 49-42 | Season Singles Record: 9-8 (1-3)
Career Doubles Record: 94-30 | Season Doubles Record: 15-6 (6-2)
Highest Singles Ranking: No. 29 (9/29/2011) | Current: 36
Highest Doubles Ranking: No. 1 (1/5-6/7, 2010 - with Caitlyn Whoriskey) | Current: 15 & 21
HONORS
2011 First Team All-SEC
2011 Academic All-SEC
2010 ITA Doubles All-American
2010 ITA Collegiate All-Star Team
2010 Campbell/ITA National Doubles Team of the Year
2010 Academic All-SEC
2009 ITA Doubles All-American
2009 Second Team All-SEC
2009 Freshman All-SEC
2009 SEC Freshman of the Week (2/24, 3/11)
2009 SEC Freshman Academic Honor Roll
DOUBLES TITLES
2011 USTA/ITA Ohio Valley Regional
2010 ITA All-American Tournament
2009 Furman Fall Classic Flight One
2008 SEC Fall Coaches' Classic White Draw
SENIOR (Fall 2011)
Singles
Ranked No. 29 in the ITA Preseason Singles Rankings...Earned at-large selection to the singles main draw of the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships...All eight wins came in straight sets...Used season-best four match winning streak to advance to the Ohio Valley Regional semifinals...Opened season with pair of ranked wins at the Furman Fall Classic, finishing second in flight one...Defeated the highest-ranked player at the tournament, No. 6 Zoe De Bruycker (UNC) 6-2, 6-3, and No. 30 Anya Morgina of South Carolina 6-1, 6-2...Win over De Bruycker marked highest-ranked win of career...4-3 in ranked matches this season, including a pair in the qualifiers at the ITA All-American Championships...Defeated No. 24 Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar of Texas A&M 6-3, 6-2 and No. 78 Courtney Collins 6-3, 7-6 (3) of Memphis.
Doubles
With nine wins in the fall, moved into tie for 11th all-time in doubles wins at UT with 88 overall...Ranked No. 22 (with Joanna Henderson) in the ITA Preseason Doubles Poll...Started playing alongside Kata Szekely at the Ohio Valley Regional and the duo went 5-0 to sweep its way to the National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships...Duo continued winning streak with two more victories at National Indoors to advance to the quarterfinals, including a win over No. 12 Lauren Embree and Joanna Mather of Florida...Seven straight wins is a season best...Dominated competition at Ohio Valley Regional, not allowing any opponent to win more than three games...Clinched title with 6-3, 6-2 win over Tiffany Welcher and Alyssa Hibberd (Memphis)...Pluskota and Henderson finished third in the Furman Fall Classic's first flight...Defeated South Carolina's Dijana Stojic/Jaklin Alwai, 9-7, in third-place match...Dropped a pair of matches at the ITA All-American Championships with Henderson.
JUNIOR (2010-11)
Singles
Finished the season in the final ITA singles rankings for the first time, rated 43rd...Posted a 15-11 record, including a 7-3 SEC mark...Matched 2009 season-high with 14 dual-match victories, all coming from the first spot in the lineup...Tied team best with seven wins against nationally-ranked opponents (7-11)...Had three winning streaks of at least three matches, including a season-best four that propelled her to highest ranking of the season at 31...13 of 15 wins came in straight sets...Highest-ranked win was a three-set triumph over No. 21 Kristi Boxx of Ole Miss (6-2, 3-6, 6-2)...Defeated No. 22 Anouk Tigu of Arkansas...Went 1-1 at the Michigan Invitational, topping No. 39 Jillian O'Neill of Georgia Tech in straight sets...Missed entire fall schedule due to injury.
Doubles
Finished 20th (with Brynn Boren) and 35th (with Millie Nichols) in the final ITA doubles rankings...Went 21-9, including 8-2 in conference action...Recorded 12-5 mark with Brynn Boren...The duo went 6-3 against ranked competition... Advanced to the second round of the NCAA Doubles Championships, before falling in three sets to the No. 6-rated tandem of Keri Wong and Josipa Bek of Clemson...Won eight of nine matches, including wins over No. 14 Kathryn Talbert and Kayla Duncan of Wake Forest, No. 15 Rachael White and Allison Falkin, and No. 64 Paloma Excobedo and Cami Hubbs of Ohio State...Season-best seven-match win streak in SEC play lifted her to No. 16 ranking...Streak included victories against No. 10 Alexa Guarachi and Courtney McLane of Alabama and No. 11 Chelsey Gullickson and Kate Fuller of Georgia...Also earned a doubles win over No. 66-rated Caroline Lilley and Sasha Krupina of GT.
SOPHOMORE (2009-10)
Singles
Missed 14 matches with an injury...Debuted at No. 87 in singles in the ITA Preseason Polls for the start of her sophomore season...Put together a 2-6 singles record...Both victories came in straight sets, including a 6-0, 6-0 blanking of Northwestern's Stacey Lee...Competed in singles at the ITA All-American.
Doubles
Named an ITA All-American for the second consecutive year in doubles...Finished the season as the No. 1-ranked doubles duo in the nation, paired with Caitlin Whoriskey...Put together near-perfect doubles record of 10-1 with Whoriskey...Advanced to the doubles finals of the 2010 NCAA Women's Tennis Championships before falling in three sets to Hilary Barte and Lindsay Burdette of Stanford...Topped the No. 8-ranked squad of Chelsey Gullickson and Nadja Gilchrist to reach the finals...Also toppled the fifth-rated squad of Allie Will and Marrit Boonstra of Florida in an epic, three-set tiebreaker in the NCAA quarterfinals...Paired up with Jennifer Meredith to go 1-1 at the SEC Tournament, including a match-clinching 8-3 win over Laura van de Stroet and Abby Guthrie of Ole Miss...Took down the third-best doubles team in the nation, Gabriela Mejia and Laura Vallverdu of Miami on Jan. 17...Finished the fall season with a loss in the finals of the ITA Indoor Nationals to Stanford's No. 3 pair of Hilary Barte and Lindsay Burdette...On the way to the finals, beat three top-36 opponents, including an 8-6 win over the No. 31 combo of Anna Redecsi and Selma Salkovic of DePaul and an 8-5 triumph against Boise State's No. 33 Lauren Magale and Pichittra Thongdach...Captured the doubles crown at the ITA All-American Tournament Oct. 5-8...Kicked off the competition with an 8-2 win over 15th-ranked Kristy Frilling and Kali Krisik from Notre Dame...Dropped only four games to Barte and Burdette in the following match, avenging the semifinal loss to the Cardinal in the 2009 NCAA Doubles Tournament...Also took out the No. 8 team of Lenka Broosova and Csilla Borsanyi of Baylor to reach the finals, where she and Whoriskey needed three sets to defeat Lauren Embree and Allie Will from SEC foe Florida...Began a 10-match winning streak in doubles with a Flight One title at the Furman Fall Classic...Gave up only two games for an 8-2 victory over Clemson's 14th-ranked Josipa Bek and Ina Hadziselimovic, before dominating Northwestern's Brittany Wowchuk and Elena Chernyakova, 8-3...Blanked Stacey Lee, also of Northwestern, 6-0, 6-0 in round one of the Furman Fall Classic...Won the consolation finals over Gina Suzrez from North Carolina.
FRESHMAN (2008-09)
Singles
Amassed a 23-17 singles record, mainly in the second roster spot...Defeated Tara Byrne from East Tennessee State, 6-4, 6-1, in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament...Easily dropped Georgia's No. 45 Yvette Hyndman, 6-3, 6-4, in the last regular season matchup...Went three sets against No. 39 Alex Haney of Auburn...Downed five-straight opponents, including a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 win over Mississippi's Karen Nijssen, the nation's 62nd-ranked player...Grabbed a win at the ITA Kickoff Classic after triumphing over Duke's Jessi Robinson, 6-0, 6-2...Was perfect in two matches at the Furman Fall Classic after finishing with a 2-1 mark in her UT debut at the University of Virginia Invitational...Also added a pair of singles wins at the SEC Fall Coaches' Classic.
Doubles
Was terrific in doubles play as well, notching a stellar 31-11 record despite splitting her time between two tandems, eventually partnering with Caitlin Whoriskey for the last 24 matches that included a run to the semifinals of the NCAA Doubles Championships...On its way, the duo defeated three ranked opponents, including the nations' No. 2 team of Kelcy Tefft and Kristy Frilling from Notre Dame...Twice defeated the nationally-ranked team of Yevgeniya Stupak and Paula Jaime (May 10/March 13)... Dropped No. 49 Heather Steinbauer and Jackie Wu of Vanderbilt, 8-3...Notched six-straight wins with Whoriskey, topping the No. 32 pair of Virginia's Jennifer Stevens and Emily Fraser, 8-2, along the way...Followed that victory with two more over the nation's 28th an 45th ranked teams...Jumped from unranked to the No. 32 spot in the ITA doubles rankings alongside Whoriskey on March 22...Won an easy contest over the No. 14 combo of Megan Falcon and Mykala Hedberg from LSU...Started the fall season as Zsófia Zubor's partner, tallying a 4-2 record in the team's first two tournaments...Joined forces with Jennifer Meredith for the second half of the fall season, amassing a 5-1 record with her fellow Georgia native...The duo strung together three wins in as many days from Nov. 6-8 to claim the White Draw doubles championship at the SEC Fall Coaches' Classic.
HIGH SCHOOL
Ranked as the No. 29 player in the nation as well as a five-star recruit by TennisRecruiting.net...Also rated as the third-best player in the state of Georgia and 12th-best in the Southeast...Played on the USTA Southern National Team...Claimed the Southern BG18 Closed Singles Championship in April 2007 after winning the USTA National Opens doubles title in Atlanta the month before...Holds the Northgate H.S. record for most career wins...In addition to lettering in tennis three times, she was a four-year letterman on the basketball team and lettered once in cross country...Served as captain for both the tennis and basketball squads for one season each...Was a member of the National Honor Society and named to the school's academic honor roll.
PERSONAL
Majoring in sport management...Has dreamed of playing tennis at Tennessee since she was nine years old...Enjoys participating in all sports, watching movies with friends, playing cards and going to Cold Stone Creamery...Lists UT Womens' Basketball Head Coach Pat Summitt as the person she admires the most...Has a twin brother, Nicholas, 21...Also has an older brother, Edward, 25...Natalie Ann Pluskota, daughter of Edward and Sherry Pluskota, was born Nov. 2, 1989, in Newnan, Ga.
