Zulay Castaneda joined the Longwood tennis staff in the summer of 2023 following her collegiate playing career. Se enters her second second with the Lancers in 2024-25.
In her first season on staff in Farmville, The Lancers went 7-10 overall and 1-4 in the league, winning three of their final four matches despite narrowly missing qualifying for the Big South tournament. Feline van Eijkelenburg and Oriana Izarra were named to the all-conference team with van Eijkelenburg earning second-team honors in both singles and doubles and Izarra claiming a second-team doubles nod.
Castaneda played for two seasons at NCAA Division II Newberry, where she played No. 1 singles. She finished her conference season unbeaten and was ranked No. 15 in the nation in 2022.
She was named an All-American in singles, and she helped lead Newberry to NCAA tournament for the first time in program history. She was also named the Player of the Year in the South Atlantic Conference, and she helped her team rank No. 11 in the country in 2022.
As a senior, she went 15-2 overall and helped Newberry go 17-4 on the regular season while playing all but one match at No. 1 singles. In addition, she was unbeaten at No. 1 doubles with her main doubles partner on the season. She finished the season ranked No. 51 by the ITA.
She made her first appearance at the college level at ASA Miami in the NJCAAÂ after playing as a top player in Panama. As a prep player, she played a part on the national Fed Cup team while also playing in mixed doubles and advancing to the semifinals of the Wilson Cup. She achieved a ranking of 715 in the ITF.
At ASA Miami, she won the region in both singles and doubles as a freshman while helping lead the team to the national championship. She also played No. 1 on the Fed Cup team in Lima, Peru in 2019, and she was an NJCAA First Team All-American in doubles.
After the 2020 season was canceled due to COVID-19, she played No. 1 singles at Division II Southeastern Oklahoma State. She was named a first Team all-American.
She holds her bachelor's degree from Newberry after earning her associate's degree from ASA College Miami. Castaneda is pursuing her MBA at Longwood.
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