May 3, 2002
WACO, Texas - Baylor soccer coach Nick Cowell announced Friday the signing of goalkeeper Tanya Sena to a National Letter of Intent, adding a fifth signee to an earlier group who committed to Baylor in February.
Sena joins the Bears from A.J. Dimond High School in Anchorage, Alaska, where she was the varsity starting goalkeeper for four years. The senior totaled six shutouts as a freshman, five more as a sophomore and six as a junior. Sena earned first-team all-conference honors in goal as a sophomore and again as a junior after earned honorable mention all-conference as a freshman. Sena played club soccer for the Northern Lights Eagles from 1997-2000, earning team MVP honors her final two seasons with the club. She was a member of the Alaska State ODP team in 2000 and 2001, and played on the Alaska Women's State Championship team in 2001. Away from soccer, she also ran cross country and participated in cross country skiiing at Dimond H.S. An outstanding student, Sena intends to study biology (pre-med) at Baylor.
"Tanya Sena has the potential to become an excellent Division I goalkeeper," Baylor head coach Nick Cowell said. "We hope that once she gets in a full-time training environment, she will become not only an excellent shot-stopper, but also one who understands her tactical role in the defense. We expect Tanya to compete immediately for a starting position with red-shirt freshman Mel Pannell."
Sena joins fellow high school signees Amber Cole (MF/F, San Antonio, Texas), Kandyce Farr (D, Katy, Texas), Samantha Savage (MF/F, Grapevine, Texas) and Bethany Vick (MF/F, Fort Worth, Texas). Those five will be welcomed in the fall by three transfers who joined the Bears in January: Katie Chicoine (MF, Mary Hardin-Baylor), Kristen Starzynski (MF, Pepperdine) and Kate Hensman (F, Radford).
The Bears begin their fall season by hosting the Baylor Labor Day Classic. Baylor faces Louisiana-Lafayette Aug. 30 at 7 p.m. at Betty Lou Mays Field in the season opener, then squares off against Mississippi State Sept. 1 at 7 p.m. in the final game of the classic.
