Posted: Thursday, January 22, 2009 3:35 pm
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“There is no question that we are going to benefit immensely from Sylvia’s experience at the NCAA national level and her extraordinary tennis talents,” University of Tennessee at Martin head tennis coach Dennis Taylor said. “But what has impressed me the most about Sylvia is her positive, upbeat attitude about everything. I can already see that her enthusiasm and energy has had a positive effect on our program.”
At Pepperdine, Kosakowski led the Waves to four consecutive West Coast Conference titles, and was a three-time All-WCC First Team singles and doubles honoree. Kosakowski also was named as an Intercollegiate Tennis Association First Team All-American in doubles, along with her partner for three years, Bianca Dulgheru.
Kosakowski brings a wealth of postseason experience to UT Martin, as she appeared in several NCAA Championships singles and doubles matches over her stellar career. During her junior year, the team of Kosakowski and Dulgheru made it all the way to the quarterfinals, defeating teams from Georgia and Northwestern State along the way. As a sophomore, Kosakowski was part of the Pepperdine squad that defeated Wichita State in the first round of the NCAA Championships.
Kosakowski played in the No. 1 doubles position all four years and was in the No. 1 singles player for her last two seasons, in which she found immense success.
She was ranked as high as number two nationally in doubles during her career, and was consistently known as one of the top-15 duos in all of the NCAA.
Born in Elizabeth, N.J., and raised in Downey, Calif., Kosakowski played competitive tennis since the age of nine and enjoyed an outstanding prep career at Warren High School in Downey from 2000-04. At Warren, she won the Junior Fed Cup in 2003 and was a Winter Super Nationals Doubles Champion in 2002.
Kosakowski, 22, was named Pepperdine’s 2008 Athlete of the Year and graduated in 2008 with a degree in liberal arts/elementary school education.