#1 Kristen Rafael 2008-09 Women's Tennis Roster
AS A SENIOR: Enjoyed most productive singles dual season as a member of the Irish, finishing with a record of 12-9 in split time between courts two, three and four … overall, finished her final campaign with a 21-10 mark, aided by a 9-1 fall tour season … earned fourth monogram … named BIG EAST Player of the Week for the first time of her career the week of April 27 … climbed as high as 79th in the ITA rankings … finished the year with a 5-9 mark in split time between No. 2 and 3, while posting a perfect 7-0 ledger in her time at No. 4 … also ended with a 20-13 doubles record, including 13-11 on the dual campaign … spent majority of season at No. 2 doubles, finishing with a record of 11-6 … played eight nationally-ranked opponents, notching a pair of victories in those contests … first of the two victories came against #54 Erin Vierra of Virginia at the Blue/Gray Classic … knocked her off in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1, helping the Irish to a 4-0 victory and the tournament title … later took down #50 Brittany Wowchuk of Northwestern (6-3, 6-3) after making the move to No. 4 singles … named a member of the BIG EAST Academic All-Stars for fourth consecutive season.
AS A JUNIOR: Finished the season with a 14-13 singles record, which included an 11-8 record in dual action… ended the season at the No. 6 position, but saw time at No. 5… had a 6-3 record at No. 5 singles and a 5-5 record at No. 6 singles… concluded the regular season winning seven of her last nine singles matches… notched a 12-9 doubles record with three different partners … started and ended the season playing with Chrissie McGaffigan, and recorded a 10-5 record with her… the duo also started the year ranked 33rd nationally in the preseason poll … in the middle of the year, went 2-1 with Kali Krisik and 0-2 with Kristy Frilling … posted a total of six match-clinching points … knocked off Lynn Blau of Georgia Tech, 6-2, 1-6, 6-4, to secure the 4-3 victory over the then-14th ranked Yellow Jackets … wrapped up the match for the Irish a week later against Indiana, defeating Charlotte Martin in straight sets (6-1, 6-0) … clinched the doubles point – along with teammate Chrissie McGaffigan – against California in the NCAA Round of 16 … named a member of the BIG EAST Academic All-Stars for the third straight year.
AS A SOPHOMORE: Finished the season with a 25-13 overall singles record and a 4-1 doubles marks … consistent force in the Irish lineup … went 6-5 at No. 3 singles, 5-2 at No. 4, 2-2 at No. 5 and 4-2 at No. 6 … topped Michigan[apos]s 39th-ranked Chisako Sugiyama, 6-1, 6-1, at the Midwest Regional … finished the tournament season with an 8-2 record … opened the dual season ranked 62nd … won five straight to start the dual-match schedule … put together a six- match win streak from Feb. 18 to March 5 … recorded a 17-11 mark during dual competition … clinched the win for the Irish on seven occasions … went 1-1 at the BIG EAST tournament and 3-1 in the NCAA Championship … BIG EAST Academic All-Star.
AS A FRESHMAN: Saw limited action in singles matches, finishing the season at 8-5 while going 3-2 in dual matches … began the season by winning her first four matches before falling to #68 Chisako Sugiyama of Michigan (5-7, 2-6) … only other loss against a ranked opponent was to 19th-ranked Maya Johansson of Georgia Tech (3-6, 4-6) … went 19-12 overall in doubles play, going 6-3 with Cosmina Ciobanu, 3-2 with Colleen Rielley and 9-6 with Kali Krisik … went 0-1 against ranked opponents as she and Krisik lost at No. 2 doubles to 50th-ranked Jana Bielikova and Karolina Fillipiak of Baylor (4-8) … played at No. 3 doubles with Krisik in the NCAA tournament … first round match was halted, but picked up her first NCAA victory in the second round, defeating Miami (Fla.)[apos]s Michaela Kissell and Jenna Osborne (8-1).
HIGH SCHOOL & PERSONAL DATA: Four- year letterwinner at Nolan Catholic High School … named MVP each of her four scholastic seasons … captured district championships all four years … won state titles as a freshman, sophomore and senior … dropped just one match her entire high school career … helped Nolan Catholic to state titles as a freshman and sophomore … earned All-American honors as a senior … awarded 2007 Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year … member of National Honor Society … three-year member of choir and performed at Carnegie Hall … graduated summa cum laude from high school (top 10-percent of class) … ranked as high as fifth in the 2007 recruiting class by tennisrecruiting.net … captured three major junior championships, including the Texas Summer Grand Slam and the MCB Cotton Bowl Super Championship … awarded the 2006 Sportsmanship Award at the Fort Worth Pro Tennis Classic, 2004 Maureen Connelly Brinker Sportsmanship Award, G14 National Open Sportsmanship Award, G12 Zonals Sportsmanship Award … singles and doubles semifinalist at the 2006 ITF GB1 Jerry Simmons Pan American (G18) … doubles champion at the 2007 ITF Tennis Express (G18) … singles and doubles champion at the Texas Summer Grand Slam (G18) … went undefeated at the USTA Junior Fed Cup Championships (G18) … doubles semifinalist at the 2006 USTA National Hard Court Championships (G18) … singles and doubles National Open champion (G16) … awarded Player of the Year by the Dallas Tennis Association (2001, G12; 2002 and 2003, G14; 2004, G16; 2005 and 2006, G18) … Dallas Morning News and Star Telegram Player of the Year as a senior … third Texas native, and first since 2002, to play for the Irish women[apos]s tennis team … born August 19, 1989, in Nederland, Texas … daughter of Alex and Elieen Rafael … has a brother, Paul … currently enrolled in the College of Arts and Letters as a theology major.