No. 5 NSU Sharks Tennis Honors 2020 Senior Class

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – In the first of Nova Southeastern Athletics’ recognitions of spring sports teams whose seasons were cut short prior to their official Senior Day ceremonies, today the Sharks salute the three seniors from NSU women’s tennis – Isabella Lowrey, Daniela Obando and Sarah Wardenburg.

Carrying over a stacked roster and a ton of momentum from 2019’s program-record tying 22-5, including a 7-3 mark in the formidable Sunshine State Conference (SSC) and a second-ever runner-up finish at the SSC Championships, closing the 2019 season hosting an NCAA South Regional.

The 2020 team got things moving quickly in the fall, leading to a No. 5 Intercollegiate Tennis Association ranking. Garnering a No. 1 national ranking as a doubles pair, Wardenburg joined partner Natalie Espinal to not only earn the program’s first-ever invitation to the ITA Cup, the tandem won the tournament’s DII Championship.

In the spring, the Sharks’ season was cut short with nine regular season matches to go on a 13-1 record and a 4-0 Sunshine State Conference mark. The lone loss for the Sharks came on neutral courts in Edmond, Okla. to three-time defending National Champion Barry, 4-2, at the ITA Division II Women’s Indoor Championships. At season’s end, the Sharks were posting a .929 winning percentage and have attained victory in 85.4 percent of matches across the past two years – their sights set on taking another run at the SSC Championship in late April after making the 2019 final.

“We have 3 seniors that will be incredibly missed,” head coach Doug Neagle said. “I really wish we could honor them during our final home match, but with this pandemic, things have changed all over the world. It may seem small to an outsider when talking about sport, but to them it’s a real sense of loss. We, as a team, are going to honor them the best we can because they deserve that. Sarah Wardenburg, Isabella Lowrey, and Danny Obando have definitely left their mark here. They were a part of the team that tied the programs record for most wins in a season while earning our highest national ranking in the program’s history. The stats are great, but all three of these young ladies did so much more for our program than just the wins. They helped create so many memories for themselves, their teammates and us coaches. I know these three will be successful in life whatever path they choose. They might be graduating but they are forever Sharks!”

Lowrey is a local product out of Miami as a four-time district champion and first-team All-Broward County performer from The Sagemont School. During the first season under Neagle as a recruit from the previous staff, Lowrey jumped right in the fire and played No. 1 doubles with Liucelena Perez during her rookie season, earning all-SSC and first team ITA Doubles All-America honors – the pair reaching No. 7 nationally in the final rankings after ending the season on a six-match win streak and racking up a 13-4 combined record and 7-2 in the SSC. As a sophomore, Lowrey paired with Ana Navas for a 16-7 record and went 14-10 partnering with Diane Follin-Arbelet and Chantal Nosievici in 2019. This season, Lowrey was 5-2 while working with three different partners to end 2020 with a 48-23 career doubles record. On the singles side, Lowrey overcame a challenging 1-15 rookie record to go 18-12 across the subsequent three seasons for a 19-27 career record. She was perfect in three outings this season with conference victories over Palm Beach Atlantic and Eckerd. Lowrey is a two-time SSC Commissioner’s Honor Roll awardee and will receive her degree in Exercise and Sport Science.

Coming to NSU out of AIU High School and originally Honduras’ capital city of Tegucigalpa, Obando has been one of the most prolifically-consistent victors for the Sharks in the Neagle coaching era. Obando has amassed a combined 77.1 win percentage with a 35-10 singles and 39-12 doubles record across three years on the courts for NSU. After not seeing action in her first year, Obando burst onto the scene with a 16-6 singles record and 16-7 doubles mark – including a 15-6 record with partner Andrea Ivanovic to earn the pair first-team All-SSC Doubles honors. Obando also picked up second-team All-SSC recognition for her 2018 singles effort and was ranked No. 7 in doubles with garnered ITA All-America honors. Last season, Obando knocked out a 13-2 singles record to earn a repeat appearance on the All-SSC Singles team and coupled with Ana Navas for an 11-3 record (2-1 with Nosievici) at No. 1 doubles to repeat on the All-SSC first team. Obando also provided the clinching match in the SSC Championships semifinal to defeat defending and eventual National Champion Barry and move NSU to the final. Obando was ranked 20th in doubles and 64th in singles in 2019. This season, Obando was well on her way to another outstanding campaign, ranking 38th nationally and ninth in the South, collecting a 6-2 singles mark. Pairing with newcomer Tingting Pei, Obando went 10-1 in doubles – the pair notching victories in five matches against ranked foes. An Exercise and Sport Science major, Obando also had honors on the SSC Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

Originally from Pauanui, New Zealand, Wardenburg came to NSU by way of a two-time All-America performance at ASA College in Miami and has been not only steady, but a dominant force for the Sharks over the past two seasons. Wardenburg has amassed a 25-8 record in singles for a 75.8 winning percentage, while knocking out wins at an 85.3 percent rate in doubles on her 29-5 career record. During her first season with the Sharks, Wardenburg went 17-6 in singles while making appearances in every flight except No. 1 – going 7-3 in SSC play. Teaming with Espinal and Ivana Djordjevic during her junior campaign, she racked up a 21-4 doubles record to match the program doubles single-season win record and earn second-team All-SSC honors – the pair ending the season ranked No. 24 nationally. This season, Wardenburg was ever-dominant as part of the ITA’s No. 1-ranked pair with Espinal – making the most of NSU’s first-ever appearance at the ITA Cup in Rome, Ga. by capturing the DII Championship. At the season’s stopping point, Wardenburg and Espinal were 8-1 – the lone loss coming during the ITA Division II Women’s Indoor Championships in Oklahoma to No. 6 Saint Leo. The pair opened the season with a 6-3 win over 21st-ranked Alessandra Traub/Paloma Martinez from No. 13 Flagler and also topped Xiyao Wang and Daniela Farfan from No. 1 Barry in Oklahoma. In singles this season, she was 8-2, opening the year on a seven-match win streak.

The Sharks’ 2020 season concluded on Tuesday, March 10, with a twinbill of perfect 7-0 sweeping victories over Daemen (N.Y.) and Hillsdale, bringing their sweep count to a commanding 9-of-14 matches on the year. The originally-scheduled Senior Day for NSU women’s tennis was April 11 against Florida National.

Additional Shark spring teams who ended their seasons without a senior event will be celebrated weekly on Fridays over the next few weeks.

To stay up with all the latest with Sharks tennis, follow us on Twitter @NSU_WTennis, on Instagram @NSU_WTennis and on Facebook /NSUSharksWTennis.
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