One thing is for sure when it comes to Yana
Carollo.
Her loyalty and passion is with the Virginia Commonwealth
University women’s tennis program as the former Ram has
rejoined Head Coach Paul Kostin’s staff for
the 2010 campaign.
“It’s great to have Yana back,” Kostin said.
“She’s one of the hardest working people I know and she
helped accomplish great things when she was my assistant.
We’re aiming to accomplish even greater things this time
around.”
She spent the past two-plus years working as a high-level tennis
instructor in Italy.
Prior to her time in Italy, Carollo served as Kostin’s top
assistant for three years (2005-2007) and quickly earned the
reputation as an outstanding recruiter, helping the Black &
Gold land All-Americans Tatsiana Uvarova,
Marianna Yuferova and Olga
Borisova.
During her tenure, VCU notched an overall record of 67-17 and
captured the 2006 Colonial Athletic Association Championship. The
2006 squad went an unprecedented 29-1, with the only loss coming in
the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament to second-ranked Southern
California. Two out of her three years saw the Rams earn a top-25
ranking.
Her knowledge of the game comes first-hand after being a fierce
competitor for the Rams from 1999 to 2002. During her four years,
she constantly served as the team’s leader and finished with
an impressive 72-26 singles record and 53-22 mark in doubles
competition. Her 72 singles win currently ranks fifth all-time in
the program’s history.
She was a two-time All-CAA honoree, which includes a 20-win
freshman campaign, in which she earned First-Team honors and went
unbeaten at the CAA Tournament.
Carollo graduated from VCU in 2001 with a Bachelor of Arts degree
in Political Science. Along with her husband, Giuseppe, they have a
son, Domenick.
