Cloverleaf alum Emily Dunbar ready for swan song at University of Richmond

Richmond graduate student Emily Dunbar is determined to finish her college tennis career in style. The three-time, first-team All-Atlantic 10 honoree, 2018 Most Outstanding Performer and Most Outstanding Rookie Performer believes she can achieve far more than that when she returns to the court to finish her career as a Spider. "I'm definitely lucky to have one more season," Dunbar said. "I don't feel like I've accomplished what I wanted to in college yet with tennis, but I'm working hard every day to improve my game to get to where I want to be. I'll be ready to win more matches (in the spring)." The Cloverleaf graduate finished the fall portion of her season last weekend at Elon's Jimmy Powell Invitational in North Carolina by going 1-2 in doubles action and losing singles matches against Elon's Sibel Tanik and UNC-Greensboro's Erika Barquero. Dunbar came up one win shy of the ITA Super Regionals earlier this month when she lost to Liberty's Maria Juliana Parra Romero 6-1, 7-6 (5) in the round of 16 at the Atlantic Regional. She won two matches before that defeat. Dunbar was Richmond's closest competitor to reach the ITA Super Regionals, which begin Oct. 22 in Charlottesville, Va. "Mostly I need to work on believing that I can achieve my goals," she said. "This weekend at the ITA Regional opened my eyes that I can get there, but I need to learn to be more offensive and take control of the pace of my matches." In addition to her confidence and aggression, the 5-foot-5 Dunbar is working on refining her serve and the offensive attack of her forehand for when the team returns to the court for the spring season on Jan. 21. Dunbar's goals include making a run at winning her first Atlantic 10 Tournament and advancing at the NCAA Regionals. "I really believe I can take my game to where I want it to be so that I can accomplish my goals," she said. "I want to finish my college career this spring on as strong of a note as possible." Dunbar, who has a 37-40 singles record at singles, comes from a family of college tennis standouts, with older brothers Ethan and Jacob both starring at Richmond. Ethan became Richmond's first men's tennis player to be ranked when he was a redshirt junior in the 2013-14 season. Jacob set the men's record for season (32) and career wins (105) during his senior season of 2016-17, won an ITA doubles regional championship and was a singles runner-up. Father Keith Dunbar played collegiately at Miami (Ohio) and mother Vicki (Nelson) Dunbar played at Rollins College and professionally as part of the Women's Tennis Association. Once her college career is over, Dunbar would love to follow in her brothers' footsteps and go after a professional tennis career. She has her eyes set on the International Tennis Federation's Futures Tour and the Association of Tennis Professionals' Challenger Tour to gain experience at the professional level. After entering college with her sights set on a career in nursing once her playing days were behind her, Dunbar had a change of heart and is seeking her master's degree in Liberal Arts. She now has her focus on a potential career as a college tennis coach. "I want to give professional tennis a try and see how it goes," she said. "If it goes well, we'll see where it might go from there." Contact John Urchek at sports@medina-gazette.com.