Freshman Spotlight: Ekaterina Repina

Ekaterina Repina, a Voronezh, Russia native, attended Rudjer Boskovic prior to becoming a Cyclone. Repina won multiple tournaments as a junior and was ranked by the International Tennis Federation in 2016. Now a student at Iowa State, she has plans to major in business.

Learn more about Repina as she nears her first collegiate competition on Sept. 21.

Cyclones.com: When did you start playing tennis and why?
Ekaterina Repina: I started playing tennis when I was seven years old. My mom was an athlete, so that's why she wanted me to get into sports more.

Cyclones.com: What is your favorite part about tennis?
ER: My favorite part about tennis is when the match is really hard, when you are fighting for every ball and then you win—when it's a really close match, but you can fight for it.

Cyclones.com: Why did you decide to play for Iowa State?
ER: I saw that it was a really good university and a Division 1 school. I also saw that they do very well with their rankings. I talked to one girl on the team, who is from Russia too [Margarita Timakova] and she helped me a lot. The coaches and team help me too.

Cyclones.com: What has helped you reach the Division 1 level?
ER: My parents and previous coaches helped me get here. I've always had a goal to be better, to improve and to fight. That's one of the best things in me, that I'm a fighter. I never quit.

Cyclones.com: What are you looking forward to this season?
ER: I'm looking to achieve great results and to be really good friends with everyone. I hope to be really close friends, because it's one of the most important things in a team. You need to be really close to each other to be better and to have better communication.

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