COLUMBIA, Mo. - The 2014-15 Mizzou tennis season concluded in mid-April after the Tigers wrapped up play at the 2015 SEC Women's Tennis Tournament. Mizzou finished the spring campaign with nine total wins, including a thrilling 4-3 victory over No. 36 Arkansas in the first round of SEC Tournament action.
Head Coach Sasha Schmid and her Tigers now turn their focus to the 2015-16 season, and will begin offseason preparation this summer in both Columbia, Mo. and each student-athletes' respective hometowns.
Throughout the upcoming months, Mizzou Athletics will meet with each of the Mizzou tennis student-athletes and coaches to discuss their personal offseason growth. Up first, we catch up with incoming freshman Turner Yates, as she's officially scheduled to join the program this upcoming August.
On Nov. 12, 2014, Coach Schmid and Mizzou tennis announced that Yates had signed her National Letter of Intent to join the Tigers. It was a monumental day for the program, as Yates became just the second ever top-75 recruit to sign with the Tigers.
At a signing day ceremony at Jackson Academy in Jackson, Miss., Yates signed the dotted line alongside her parents to officially become a Mizzou Tiger.
"My signing day was a really special day for both me and my family," Yates recalled. "I was so excited to finally be part of such a special team and special coach (Sasha Schmid). It was a great feeling to know that I was going to end up exactly where I need to be."
Yates has dominated local competition in Mississippi for nearly a decade. In fact, she has been ranked the No. 1 junior tennis player in the state since the age of nine years old. With her years of success and dominance on the court, schools across the nation were contacting Yates in hopes of landing her.
After receiving offers from other schools such as TCU, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, Richmond and College of Charleston, Yates ultimately chose the Mizzou black and gold in Columbia, Mo. When she joins the program in mid-August, Yates and future teammate Clare Raley will make a duo of former nationally ranked junior tennis players.
"It's so weird to think that Clare and I ended up at the same place," Yates said. "We've been great friends since we were nine years old. I'm so glad that I found a team that I fit in so well with. I absolutely adore the team and I'm eager to see what's in store for all of us as we take on the next few years in the SEC!"
As the 2014-15 school year in Mississippi winds down, Yates will continue to prep for her transition to Columbia, Mo. in a variety of ways. On the tennis side of things, she'll continue to compete with Jackson Academy in addition to several Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) sanctioned events. In regards to her personal life, Yates naturally has mixed emotions as she transitions to the next chapter of her life.
"I plan on playing several ITA's and other tournaments to prepare for the season ahead," Yates said. "I also plan on enjoying my last summer with all of my friends and family in Mississippi whenever I'm not traveling for tournaments. I have loved growing up in the heart of the South, and I've made so many great memories here as well as awesome friendships. I look forward to starting a new chapter of my life and meeting new people from all over. It's exciting to think about how much I have ahead of me, as I head up to Mizzou in the fall."
This past season, a program record of 1,367 fans made their way to the Mizzou Tennis Complex (MTC) for Tiger home matches. With a great set of talent and personalities already present on the Mizzou tennis roster, Yates looks to build off that and add even more excitement for Tiger fans.
"I hope I can bring a lot of spirit and fight to the team," Yates exclaimed. "I really love to compete and it's so fun and awesome that I'm part of a team that is like me in that aspect of tennis!"
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