Rocio Portela

Class:
Senior
Hometown:
Demetrio Vega Baja,Puerto Rico
High School:
Broward Virtual

2013-2014: Recorded a career-high 17 singles victories between fall and spring competitions, finishing first on the team with five wins over BIG EAST opponents (5-1, .833) and tying for third on the team with 11 dual match victories overall...Teamed with classmate Chloe Sher to record 20 doubles victories, pushing school record total as a pair to 62...Followed a season-opening loss with three-straight consolation wins at the Quinnipiac Invitational...Advanced to second round at the West Point Invitational with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Kristen Scott on SUNY-Albany...Picked up two more wins in consolation play at the Cornell Invitational to open the spring...Registered her first dual match victory of the season in second singles against Saint Peter's, defeating Ivana Grbelja, 6-0, 6-2...Helped The Hall to a road win over NJIT with a 6-2, 7-5 third singles triumph over Jana Luste...Rallied to best Cheryl Kukkonen of SUNY-Albany, dropping only three games over the final two sets after losing the first...Added to a BIG EAST victory over Providence by downing Jennifer DeLuca at #3, 6-2, 6-4...Closed a spring break trip to her native Puerto Rico with a 6-3, 6-4 triumph against Kristin Zakiewicz of Valparaiso in second singles...Followed with a straight-set win over Tori Smyth (Villanova) during a key conference victory for the Pirates...Added another league win by cruising past Madeline Jaeger of Georgetown, 6-4, 6-2 in third singles...Finished the season unbeaten in her final four appearances, defeating Yanita Arnaudova (St. John's) and Farrah Smoke (Monmouth) heading into the BIG EAST Championship...Scored at the conference championship for the second-straight year, easing past Butler's Grace Hyde, 6-1, 6-1 at #3 to help SHU to a 4-0 win in her final collegiate match...Teamed with Sher to lead the team in doubles wins for the fourth consecutive season, finishing the season 20-9 overall and 12-4 at #1...Advanced to the A flight quarterfinals at the Quinnipiac Invitational and West Point Invitational to start the fall...Ousted Lai/Safron of Delaware and Ali/Ball from Fordham to earn a semifinals berth at the USTA Collegiate Invitational...Received an invitation to the USTA/ITA Northeast Regional Championship in doubles for the fourth time in her career...Combined with Sher to advance to the third round at the regional championship where the pair was clipped by the third-seeded team of Borr/Wacnik from Boston College, 7-8 (1)...Spent the spring as one-half of the #9-ranked doubles pair in the Northeast region following the stellar performance, one of two duos in the BIG EAST to be ranked regionally...Opened the spring with a semifinals appearance at the Cornell Invitational...Kick-started the dual match season with first doubles victories against Army (D. Taylor/E. Taylor, 6-4) and Binghamton (Medianik/Tashiro, 6-2)...Dominated the Providence pair of Maria Clara Bernardez and Olivia Hogan, 8-1, to start a six-match winning streak...The streak included a perfect 3-0 ledger during the team's trip to Puerto Rico followed by an 8-4 triumph over Mancini/Smyth of Villanova and an 8-6 victory against Quinnipiac's top team of Dzulynsky and Young...Combined with Sher to close the season unbeaten in the last four matches, scoring victories over Lindsey Kayati and Vanessa Petrini of Rutgers (8-6) and the St. John's duo of Arnaudova/Morozova (8-6) before blanking Monmouth's Farrah Smoke and Brooke Verdiglione in their final completed match

2012-2013: Registered a pair of victories at the Quinnipiac and Bill and Sandra Moore Invitational to start the year...Advanced to the 'A' flight quarterfinals and finished with two wins at the Cornell Invitational to open the spring...Notched her first dual match win of 2013 with a three-set comeback against Nisha Shah of Towson...Dropped only five games in a victory over Vanguard[apos]s Nina Pudar - the #33-ranked NAIA player in the nation...Bested Villanova[apos]s Tori Smyth in second singles as part of a Seton Hall sweep...Finished the season with an impressive 6-1, 6-1 result against Diamond Adams of St. John[apos]s in BIG EAST Championship consolation play...Competed primarily in the #2 spot for singles and the #1 position for doubles...Paired with classmate Chloe Sher to lead the team in doubles wins; finishing with an 18-11 mark between fall and spring competitions...The duo defeated Johnson and Stokes of Howard to win the Bill and Sandra Moore Invitational 'A' flight crown, becoming the first SHU duo to take home a title from the event...Received an invitation to compete in doubles at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Northeast Regional Championship for the third-straight year...Won 8 out of 10 doubles matches to start the dual match season...Tallied BIG EAST victories over #1 doubles teams from Connecticut, Villanova and Providence to lead the squad in conference wins...Inducted into National Collegiate Honor Society, Chi Alpha Sigma...BIG EAST Academic All-Star

2011-12: Opened the year with a straight-set win over Ashley Harel of Hartford in the Quinnipiac Invitational 'A' flight...Outlasted Manhattan[apos]s Hilary Valenzuela in three sets for her first win of the spring...Scored a win over Pittsburgh[apos]s Gabrielle Cantanzariti in the number two position...Teamed with Chloe Sher to form Pirates[apos] top doubles team...Advanced to second round of the ITA Regional Tournament in doubles...Part of a duo that racked up 13 consecutive wins in the spring and went 7-1 against BIG EAST opponents...Along with Sher, set a new SHU records for doubles wins as a pair in a single season...The tandem also broke the school[apos]s career record for wins as a team, surpassing the previous record with a win over Jennifer Holzberg and Vanessa Petrini of Rutgers... BIG EAST Academic All-Star

2010-11: Competed primarily in the No. 2 singles position and No. 1 doubles slot... Paired with Chloe Sher at ITA Regionals and advanced to second round... Won spring debut against Marist[apos]s Erin McCarthy in three sets... Earned first BIG EAST singles win over Allison Solberg from Villanova.

High School/Personal: Reached number one in her country in the under-14 division... Moved to Weston, Fla. to train with coach Gustavo Granitto at his academy... Has represented Puerto Rico at the World Junior Tennis Championships and Junior Fed Cup... Played in number two position at the Junior Fed Cup Pre-Qualifying event (16 and under) and won all of her matches to help the team reach the finals... Participated in the National Puerto Rican Open, which is a prestigious national tournament where Puerto Rican players who are in college and on the WTA tour come back to play in a national championship. In this event, she reached the semifinals three times and the doubles final twice... Diplomacy major...Born April 3, 1992.