The Eastern Michigan University tennis team has eight players on its entire roster. Every player on the roster attended high school in a different country. Some tennis players came from India, Australia, Bulgaria, and China.
Junior Miriam Westerink is from Rheden, Netherlands. She went to school at Thomas a Kempis College in Arnhem, Holland. At Thomas a Kempis College, she obtained a No. 13 ranking in national junior singles, a No. 180 senior singles ranking and a No. 179 senior doubles national ranking.
In the fall of 2008, coach Ryan Ray recruited Westerink to be a part of the women’s tennis team at EMU. This is Westerink’s third season with the Eagles, and she is one of Ray’s four recruits in 2008.
“It sounded nice,” Westerink said. “I knew they were going to be a lot of freshmen coming that same year. Coach recruited me, and I came here.”
This season is Ray’s fifth season at EMU, and he is starting to see his second-year recruits, such as Westerink, turn into upperclassmen .
Westerink said Ray is a good coach.
“He tells us to always keep fighting,” Westerink said. “He says we always have to support each other.”
Westerink joined the team in 2008 with Marcelo Rivero, Georgia de’Lisle-Tarr and Karina Ahuja. She said it helps having players from different countries within the team.
“We are all in the same situation,” Westerink said. “We bond more because of it.”
Being on the tennis team at EMU has resulted in Westerink finding a bond in her teammates.
“We are all really close to one another,” Westerink said. “We are all really good friends. We support and are always there for each other.”
The tennis team’s bond has been unbeatable at home in three-straight shutout matches at the Chippewa Racquet Club this season. These matches were against University of Detroit-Mercy, Oakland University and Wright State — all non-conference opponents.
The Eagles will need to rely on each other once Mid-American Conference play comes around for the team.
The Eagles were recently ranked in a 2011 preseason poll as a No. 6 seed heading into the MAC tournament voted by MAC women’s coaches.
“It is going to be tough,” Westerink said. “I think we are going to do better. Hopefully, we can make it to the finals this year.”
If the Eagles are to compete this year on their home courts at Chipewa Racquet Club during the MAC tournament, Westerink is going to have to step up and defeat her favorable opponents. Westerink is the team’s No. 1 singles player dating back to last season.
The Eagles finished last season as the No. 6 seed in the MAC tournament with a conference record of 2-6.
Westerink’s best season was last season posting an overall record of 22-12, 5-3 in MAC-play. So far this season, Westerink has a record of 8-8.
Westerink said she has played on teams before, but nothing is quite the same as the collegiate level. She said the reason she kept up with playing tennis was because of her family.
“My whole family played tennis growing up,” Westerink said. “They all liked it, so I kept doing it. They played a lot, so I just kept playing.”
Westerink is the baby of the family, having three older siblings: a 28-year-old brother and two sisters, 29 and 31. Westerink return home from EMU once she’s graduated with a degree in psychology and a minor in sociology.
Westerink is a long way from home but said she enjoys EMU.
“Sometimes I miss home, but not much,” Westerink said. “I have fun here, but I do like going home in the summer.”
