Entering her second season under Head Coach Shane Wood is former Clemson University tennis standout Estefania Balda. The assistant coach from Guayaquil, Ecuador graduated from Clemson in 2010 with a BA in Management.
Balda was a four-year singles and doubles player for the Tigers, collecting 62 career singles wins with a 21-18 record against ACC opponents. In doubles, she put together a solid 69-38 (.645) career mark. Her career goes beyond just the collegiate level, as she was a participant at Wimbledon and the French Open as a junior player in 2004.
As a senior at Clemson, Balda went 14-15 in singles matches, going 13-10 in dual match play. Balda won her match in Clemson's upset win over #4 Georgia, helping seal the win. During her final spring season, she went on two five-match win streaks, one of which included four ACC opponents. She played in a pair of NCAA matches without recording a decision in either one. She was 15-11 in doubles play as well.
In her junior season, she won 11 singles matches and an incredible 19 doubles matches, going 15-4 with doubles partner Alexandra Luc in Spring 2009. She battled through shoulder injuries which hindered and sidelined her from postseason play in the ACC Tournament. Balda ranked as high as #76 in the polls, following a #89 fall ranking. A highlight to her spring season came when she upset top-10 ranked Amanda McDowell of Georgia Tech, one of four ranked opponents she beat that season. She competed at both major ITA events.
In doubles during her junior year, Balda helped defeat North Carolina's doubles counterpart in the Furman Fall Classic. During the spring, she played all 19 of her matches with Luc. The duo wound up beating the Auburn team in the ITA Kick-Off Championship. Balda and Luc were winners of seven consecutive matches at one point during the season, including all three of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
As a sophomore in 2008, she went 17-18 in singles action and won 21 doubles matches. She competed in the NCAA round of 16 against Stanford but didn't record a decision in singles. Despite sitting out in round on of the NCAA due to a shoulder injury, Balda won her singles match in the regional final over her opponent from Michigan to advance to the round of 16. In doubles, she and teammate Federica Van Adrichem fell to Standord in the round of 16.
In the final fall singles poll, she placed #89, reaching the finals in the MCC Collegiate Invitational in September. She played most of the spring season at the No. 2 position, winning three times over ranked opponents, which inluded #14 Ellah Nze of Duke. She opened the season with four straight wins, including once against Purdue at the No. 1 position. He win over Nze was the start of a six-match win streak, all coming against ACC opponents. She had seven wins over ACC opponents in doubles competition in the spring season, including a win over #30 Georgia. Before her loss in doubles against Stanford in the round of 16, she did her part to help the doubles team win over Winthrop in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
Balda's freshman campain saw her be ranked as the #28 singles player in the regional rankings, going 21-13 in singles matches that year, including a 7-3 ACC record. She won her first-ever singles match in straight sets. She won two matches in the ITA Team Indoor Championships at the No. 2 position, including her first win over a ranked opponent, a 28th-ranked player.
She rattled off six straight wins at one point as Clemson entered conference play. She advanced to the ACC semifinals before falling to her Miami opponent. She also advanced to the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament before falling to a #22 ranked player from California. Balda went 18-13 in doubles play of her freshman season. She was ranked #41 in the spring time and #37 in the fall preseason poll.
Prior to Clemson, Balda won three ITF women's circuit doubles titles and one singles crown as well. She was ranked #1 in South America for Under 14's, Under 16's and Under 18's. She was listed as high as 39th in the ITF rankings and won several tournaments as a junior player.
