ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — While head women’s tennis coach Stephanie Wooten-Quijada has not officially coached a match at UNM, she knows that she has five seniors on her eight-person roster this year. With that, her reputation as a tireless recruiter would be put to the test.
Safe to say she passed with flying colors.
Wooten-Quijada announced a four-person class for the 2017-18 season, a class that has a pair of players from Texas, and a pair from Great Britain. Out of Texas, Wooten-Quijada picked up a pair of incoming freshmen in Lauren Rich and Danielle Quevedo, while coming from Great Britain are a pair of juniors with international credentials in Bronte Murgett and Natasha Munday. All four will join Ruth Copas, Diana Wong and Cassie Chung on the Lobos for 2017-18.
“This is a very exciting class for us,” said Wooten-Quijada. “We needed to get great student-athletes that will have the ability to step in and compete right away, and I know all four of these young women can do that.”
Added Wooten-Quijada, “It’s a fun class, and they all really felt strong about the facilities we have, the tennis community in Albuquerque, and the academic programs at The University of New Mexico.”
In Rich and Quevedo, the Lobos get a pair of four-star recruits according to TennisRecruiting.com. Both Rich and Quevedo train at TbarM Tennis Academy under the tutelage of John Nallon.
Quevada, who played at Grace Community School, is a two-time State Champion in the TAPPS state tournament, winning in 2014 and 2016. She has been ranked as high as No. 8 nationally and No. 1 in Texas. That top Texas ranking was both in singles as well as doubles. She currently is ranked No. 9 in Texas and No. 92 nationally.
For Quevada, success is a habit, dating back to 2010 when she took fifth at the 2010 Little Mo National in the 10’s division. She won a Gold Ball in 12’s Doubles in the National Spring Championship, a Bronze Ball in 14’s Doubles in the Hard Court National Championship, a Gold Ball in 14’s Doubles in Winter Nationals and a Bronze Ball in 16’s Singles in the National Spring Team Championships.
She was selected for a spot on the 2014 Nike Junior Tour Masters Championship where she competed in the 16’s age division. All of which are USTA sanctioned National Events.
Outside of tennis, she was awarded the Pancho Gonzales Scholar-Athlete Grant in 2014 and a multicultural/Diversity Grant for three years. She is a National Honor Society member.
Along with Quevedo, UNM inked her TbarM courtmate Lauren Rich, also rated a four-star recruit. A senior at Spring Creek Academy, Rich has come on lately moving up in the Texas state rankings. Included in her recent successes are a win over Melissa LaMette, the No. 16 player in Texas and a five-star rated player.
Joining the Texas pair are Natasha Munday and Bronte Murgett.
Munday is a senior at Fort Pitt Grammar School, and she hails from Rochester, Great Britain. Munday, who goes by Tash, trains at Bromley High Performance Centre and she has represented her region of Kent at the under-18 National Level as well as holding the regional U18 doubles title. She is ranked in the top 40 for U18 in Great Britain and she has a current UTR of 9.4.
She has excelled on the doubles court winning the National U18 Title at Gosling in June, finishing runner-up at the National event at Sutton in April and finishing as a semifinalist at Nottingham.
Tash has picked up tremendous experience by regularly advancing to the quarterfinal of National British Tour women’s events, which as the premier U.K. events. She owns singles titles at regional events at Sundridge Park, Well Place and Harlow.
Bronte Murgett will join Munday in UNM Women’s Tennis version of the “British Invasion”. Hailing from Holmfirth, Great Britain, Murgett currently attends Huddersfield New College in Yorkshire. She is currently ranked in the top 20 for the U18 circuit. She most recently picked up a singles title at the Nottingham National U18 Tournament.
At Newcastle British Tour in May of this year, she made it to the semifinals and she made it to the Winter Nationals, advancing to the quarterfinals. Bronte has numerous Regional Level U18 events titles in both singles and doubles. She trains at Bolton High Performance Centre and has represented her region of Yorkshire at National Level on numerous occasions in team events including U18 County Cup and The Twelve Counties. She has held the Yorkshire Regional Title and has represented Thongsbridge in National Club League and Bolton in U18s Premier Division 1.
Lauren Rich
“The University of New Mexico is the perfect combination of great academics, great coaches, and great tennis with a national ranked team! I had always dreamed of being able to play for a college of that caliber, so for me the University of New Mexico was a perfect fit! I cannot wait to see what the next four years will have in store for me!”
Bronte Murgett
“Environment … I loved the balance of a performance environment where the student-athletes are working hard on court and in class, but because they all get on well and share common goals it feels like a challenging but welcoming place. I can’t wait to start my journey in New Mexico!”
Danielle Quevedo
“My goal was to compete on a nationally-ranked tennis program with amazing coaches and an opportunity to excel academically at a large university. The University of New Mexico exceeded my expectations and I can’t wait to see what the next four years hold!”
Women’s Tennis Signs Four to NLI’s for 2017-18
