April 21, 2007
Columbia, Mo. - MU senior Erika Josbena loves remembering her best matches as a Tiger, and the two she mentioned in our interview are on opposite ends of her career. That just shows how productive the Interdisciplinary Studies major from Rose Valley Pa. has been in her four years at Mizzou.
Erika is majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies at MU so she can take classes that will prepare her for pharmacy school. Part of her inspiration to be a pharmacist comes from her father, who was one, and the other part comes from just being curious about how medicine works.
"I'm interested in the field, and all the different drugs, and how they do different things (to the body)."
It appears she has prepared herself for pharmacy school; she earned All-Big 12 Academic First Team honors each of the three years she has been eligible. And while she was learning, she was also playing good tennis.
Erika's 61 doubles victories put her in sixth place on Mizzou's all-time wins list. So far this season, she has 18 with fellow senior Amanda Pratzel. The two played with each other the entire 2006-07 season, and most of the spring 2006 slate. They won 28 matches in just a season and a half.
Josbena points to the team's contrasting styles as a key to their success. Amanda uses a lot touch shots and slices, while Erika sits back and uses her power. She puts it best, "I'm good with just sitting back and smashing it!"
That leads to fun times for the two Tiger seniors.
"We have a good time. We get fired up when we're on the court. I think we feed off each other really well."
They definitely had a good time after the first three games of their April 14 match against Iowa State's Eve Soriano and Kara Hickey. The MU duo was down, 3-0, to start the match, but came roaring back to win, 8-4. The win at No. 1 helped the Tigers defeat the Cyclones to earn their third Big 12 win of the year.
April 14th was a good day in singles action for Erika, too, as she beat ISU's Caitlin Loprinzi in straight sets to earn her 47th career singles victory.
Josbena's 47 wins puts her on the MU singles leader board. She sits in 13th place on the list.
Perhaps her favorite victory over her career happened right here at the Green Tennis Center. Leading up to Mizzou's match against Texas Tech on March 13, 2004, Erika had lost five matches in a row, but fortunately for the Tigers, the streak would end there. Josbena battled freshman nerves, and the pressure of a close team match, to defeat Tech's Iva Gyurgina easily, 6-1, 6-1, and clinch Mizzou's second conference win early in the Big 12 season.
"That was one that I'll probably remember for a while...that was probably one of my favorites," Josbena said, more than three years after the match.
After this season and school year, she will go back to her home in suburban Philadelphia to study for the pharmacy entrance exam. She plans to take a few more classes at MU in the winter semester of next year, and then she will begin pharmacy school.
Looking back at her tennis career, she definitely had fun and enjoyed her time as a Tiger.
"Tennis got me out to Missouri, and I'm really glad I got to meet all the people that I met, I made some great friends, and I had a good time playing tennis."