Highly Regarded Recruit Signs With UNT
11/19/2021 11:37:00 AM | Women's Tennis
DENTON – The North Texas tennis team has signed highly sought after recruit Gloria Alogo Piqueras to its 2021-22 signing class.
She joins the Mean Green with a 9.62 Universal Tennis Rating.
Piqueras comes to Denton from Mallorca, Spain where she attends the prestigious Rafa Nadal Academy.
"We are delighted to welcome Gloria to our Mean Green family," said UNT head coach Sujay Lama. "Gloria is a tremendous athlete and a ferocious competitor. She thrives on team competition and has a hunger to play professionally after college. Her recent results have been impressive but the best is yet to come. We see her blossoming here and helping us elevate our program to the next level."
Piqueras is one of the top juniors in all of Spain.
Piqueras began playing tennis at the age of five years old. By the time she was 10 she had earned a scholarship by the Spanish Federation to play in Madrid. Within a few years of that she was a Spanish National finalist and Madrid Champion.
She began playing international tournaments soon after when her family moved to London. She earned another scholarship to play at the Lawn Tennis Association where she competed against some of Europe's bests.
At 14 years old, Piqueras had moved back to Spain and was training at the Nadal academy and was earning her first ITF points.
She won the Mallorca Championship twice and the Balearic Championship once. She played international team events and also led her teams to team titles.
"The reason why I chose to go to UNT is because I believe I am going to obtain the tennis level I want," Piqueras said. "I am sure that being part of this team will help me reach my future goals. I want to contribute as much as I can with the team and fight with them in order to achieve any goals we set. As I got to know the coaches and their way of thinking, I realized that they are just what I need, which is another reason why UNT is the place for me. I want to be part of this family and obtain great things with them. "
Piqueras, who joins North Texas with a 3.7 Grade Point Average and will be studying Kinesiology.
She joins a UNT team that has made a lot of noise this semester and bolsters a roster that is young and experienced with a bright future ahead of it.
