For the first time in many years there were quite a few local tennis tournaments for men

and women to participate in as they attempted to gain a spot in the area's top 10 men's and

women's players. Miller Tennis Center had five tournaments for men and four for women. Village

Glen had four tournaments for men and three for women. There was also the Muny Tennis

Championships at Delaware Park and the Buffalo City Open at the Buffalo Racquet Club.

In short, there were nine men's tournaments and seven women's tournaments this past tennis

season. Throw in local high school and collegiate competition and you have a plethora of

matches to base our rankings on. Local experts and I looked closely at the entire tournament

results and arrived at the following rankings.

We'll start out with the women's rankings and follow up with the men in the next

installment of this column.

1. Rachel Delpriore: The 23-year-old power hitter was the unanimous choice as the

area's number one women's singles tennis player. Admittedly, she has not played many

tournaments locally over the past few years. However, anyone who has followed her storied

career readily acknowledges that she is one of Western New York's all-time greatest women's

players.

This past summer she handily defeated second-ranked Smaranda Stan in the finals of the

Miller Tennis Center's summer tournament. She also played superbly in two Marsh Cup matches

against players from Toronto and Rochester.

At Williamsville East she was ranked in the 16's and 18's in the East, as high as third in

both divisions. She was also the Erie County Interscholastic and Section VI singles champion

during her junior and senior years.

Perhaps her greatest accomplishment was attending the University of Virginia, a top 25

school, as a walk-on. By the end of the year she was playing as high as third singles. She was

rewarded for her outstanding play by being given a full tennis scholarship; the first player

in almost 25 years to achieve this feat at Virginia.

Unfortunately, due to health reasons and being a bit homesick Delpriore move back

to Buffalo and completed her education at UB, deciding not to play tennis for the university.

Presently, she is studying at UB to receive her MBA degree.

As for her lack of tournament play Delpriore said, "I always felt that strong academics and

support from my family was very important. As for playing too much tennis I didn't want to do

as some other players do by playing too much and getting burned out."

As to how she stays in tennis shape Delpriore said, "I teach quite a bit of tennis at the

Miller Tennis Center and I am very fortunate to stay in top shape by hitting against the many

top junior tennis players that they have at the club. I also work out as much as I can."

2. Smaranda Stan: Like Delpriore, Stan also teaches at the Miller Tennis Center. The

24-year-old played third singles for UB this past year. Originally from Romania she was great

friends with Andrea Novaceanu, a former first singles player at UB who was also from Romania.

Novaceanu and coach Kathy Twist were responsible for getting Stan to attend UB. Stan has

impressed everyone with her fine play and it showed in two tournament wins at Miller.

T-3. Olga Khymlev: Although injuries caused the 18-year-old to play slightly below

her best this past year, she still managed to win one local tournament at Miller Tennis Center

and was runner-up in a close math to Stan in another. The former Williamsville East star is a

two-time ECIC and Sectional champion and was ranked as high as number two in the East last

year. Her competitiveness and all-around game led to her being awarded a full tennis

scholarship to Boston College where she is alternating between first and second singles.

T-3. Miranda Podlas: The 17-year-old Williamsville East senior has had a spectacular

year. She won the Muny Women's Open Singles and Doubles Championships. She also won the ECICs

and Section VI singles championships without losing a set in each competition. She also

reached the finals of a prestigious Sectional tournament in Manlius. Podlas will be attending

UB or Niagara next year, where her aggressive style of play and mental toughness will be a

welcome addition to the women's tennis team.

5. Elise DeRose: The 21-year-old senior has played first singles for Colgate

University for the past three years. The former Nichols star has more than held her own

against some of the top Ivy League teams such as Harvard and Yale. Locally, she was runner-up

to Podlas and Khymlev respectively in the Muny and Miller tournaments. She plans on going to

UB law school next fall.

6. Kristin Janese: The 30-year-old showed outstanding power and is still playing

great tennis. She defeated Brittany Walters in three sets in the Muny Championships and

reached the finals of the doubles. She has great hands and is equally adept at the net and in

the backcourt.

7. Brittany Walters: The 18-year-old starred for Niagara University at fifth singles

and won the Buffalo City Open. She also defeated highly regarded Caroline Bristol in two close

sets in the Village Glen tournament.

8. Caroline Bristol: The 18-year-old Orchard Park senior reached the finals of both

the ECIC and Section VI championships losing to Podlas both times. Bristol notes that she has

greatly improved her serve as of late.

9. Tina Miller: The 17-year-old Williamsville senior finished third in the

sectionals and was a finalist at a Miller Tennis summer tournament. She is a former three-time

ECIC champion and has recently returned to serious tournament play.

10. Emma Manuel: The 15-year-old Williamsville East sophomore is definitely a star on

the rise. She reached the semifinals of both the ECICs and sectionals. She credits her

improvement to a much improved serve, and playing a lot of basketball to improve her footwork

and court speed.