Howland’s Gula finds success in Savannah

Stephanie Gula began playing tennis at the age of 14 in her freshman year at Howland High, thanks to her father’s interest in the game and his encouragement.

Now a freshman on the Savannah (Ga.) College of Art and Design women’s tennis team, Gula has led the Bees to the NAIA Region XIV Tournament championship and a berth in the NAIA national championships May 12-16 in Mobile, Ala.

Gula’s win at No. 5 singles in the final match of the regional meet against Embry-Riddle (Fla.) April 19 gave Savannah its second straight regional title and the national berth.

Displaying focus and confidence, she outlasted Rico Jimenez, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 in the showdown match to snap a 4-4 tie and give the Bees the win.

Gula said that she had defeated Jimenez before, “and it all basically came down to a mental game. I knew I could win it. It was a matter of keeping my concentration.”

Now Gula (14-4 in singles) is hoping she can help Savannah (11-5), ranked No. 8 by the NAIA, go the distance and win a national championship.

From novice to college ace in five years

So this is Gula’s success story: Over a time span of about five years, she has advanced from novice player to a national title contender. How was she able to do it?

To start with, Gula’s career took off when her father Richard encouraged her to join the Howland team as a freshman.

“Howland needed a No. 3 singles player and my dad knew the coach, George Barth,” recalled Gula.

“I started to play tennis with my dad and some of his friends. They helped me along the way while I was playing at Howland. I got a lot of coaching at a young age.”

She also acknowledged support from her mother, Nancy.

“My mother helps me a lot, mainly psychologically. She would come to the course when I was practicing on my own and help out,” said Gula, noting that her mother also “tries to play once in a while.”

Gula has three sisters — Rachelle, Kim, Nicole — but none are playing tennis now.

Under Barth and subsequent coaches Maria Theofolis and Paul Newlove at Howland, Gula compiled an impressive four-year record for the Tigers.

“My freshman year I was 15-5 and overall [I was] 75-15 and went to state in singles my senior year and lost in first round, but it was a good match,” said Gula, who also excelled in the classroom at Howland with a 3.8 grade-point average.

Tennis trip paved way to Savannah opportunity

She learned about Savannah on a tennis trip to the Family Circle Cup Junior Tournament in Charleston, S.C., in February 2007.

“One of my dad’s friends, Jim Britt, helps out coaching the [Savannah tennis] team and lives in Savannah and encouraged us to visit the school. I found out that it had one of the top architectural programs in the nation,” said Gula, who has a 4.0 GPA in architecture.

She likes how she has been playing her first college season.

“I have been doing really well. I had a lot of wins this year. It has been a good experience making the transition from high school to college tennis,” said Gula, who believes her main assets playing singles are “quickness and agility around the court and my backhand.”

But shes especially likes to enjoy and learn from her teammates.

“We have a wide variety of players from all over the world, so you really get a different take. You learn a lot of different things. You try to incorporate other players’ strong points into your own game,” said Gula.

XJohn Kovach covers area college athletes for The Vindicator. Write to him at kovach@vindy.com.