NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion University women’s tennis head coach, Dominic Manilla announced the newest addition to his roster, as highly touted Borislava Botusharova (Pazardzhik, Bulgaria) decided to join the Lady Monarch family for the 2014-15 season.
“We are excited to have Borislava join us in August,” said Manilla. “Coach Neykova and I identified her during the summer of 2012 while recruiting in Perot, Serbia. Our staff and entire compliance department has worked tirelessly to get Borislava through the NCAA Clearinghouse and on our roster. We are proud of the commitment our program has to bringing in a player that can immediately make an impact at the top of the lineup.”
A native of Pazardzhik, Bulgaria, Botusharova has a career-high WTA ranking of No. 407, which solidifies her as Manilla's top-ranked recruit in his young coaching career.
Not even Florida’s top ranked recruiting class boasts a higher ranked incoming recruit than ODU’s Botusharova. The Gators, who have been in the national semifinals for five straight years (with two national titles) and in ten of the last thirteen years overall, signed Brooke Austin, Peggy Porter and Josie Kuhlman for this season, who the WTA ranks No. 525, 603, and 879 in the world, respectively.
In 2013, Borislava won the reputable Varna ITF 2013 Tournament after beating Pernilla Mendesova in the final, who is currently ranked No. 406.
Manilla was on-hand in Budapest, Hungary when Botusharova made her debut in the historically prestigious Fed Cup (world’s largest annual international team competition in women’s sport) in 2014, playing for the Bulgarian National Team against Belarus.
Manilla concluded, “I have no doubt that Borislava will embrace our mission and help us compete for the Conference USA title.”