Correction: The picture associated with this article was incorrectly labeled. The picture is of senior Kathy Sell, not junior Erica Biro.
Junior Erica Biro is attempting the biggest comeback of her life, but this time it won't be on the tennis court.
One month after women's tennis coach Jamie Ashworth released Biro from her scholarship, Biro challenged Duke's athletic department to retain her financial aid. She is only the second Duke athlete since the late 1970s to have her scholarship revoked.
After last season's conclusion, Ashworth filed a recommendation with athletic director Joe Alleva asking that Biro's scholarship not be renewed because of an allegedly lax and selfish attitude. Examples of this alleged conduct included "tanking" matches and drinking the night before a road match.
Despite her 32-12 singles record last season, Ashworth singled out 10 specific allegations of wrongdoing in his complaint. At the end of the letter, he argued that Biro "has been more disruptive to the overall cause of our team than productive; our team would be a better [one] without her."
Telling her story publicly for the first time since her scholarship was terminated June 19, Biro maintains that the contents of Ashworth's complaint are entirely false.
"Erica's scholarship should have never been terminated," said Bob Harris, a lawyer representing Biro. "She abided by Duke's code of conduct and her grades were fine. She's entitled to return to her scholarship."
Included in the complaint, which tracks Ashworth's dissatisfaction from the fall season in September to the NCAA Championships in May, are accusations that Biro violated the University's alcohol policy and blamed the tennis program for having to drop one of her courses.
Biro, for her part, claims that she was hounded and scrutinized because she wasn't afraid to voice her complaints to her coach.
"It was very personal for him," she said. "I was constantly under scrutiny like no one else on the team.
"I showed up to every practice. I put in the time and effort every time. I take this scholarship very seriously."
Biro and her attorney both said her removal from the team was a complete surprise. But Ashworth insists that in addition to a formal letter informing Biro of his recommendation to athletic director Joe Alleva that she no longer receive a scholarship, he also verbally warned her multiple times.
In his complaint, Ashworth contends he assured Biro on both Nov. 5 and April 1 that her scholarship would come under review unless she changed her attitude immediately.
"Scholarships for athletes are for one year and renewable at the coach's discretion," Ashworth said. "I had a verbal conversation with her in my office and spoke with her several times."
Biro denies any such conversations ever took place.
"He never had a meeting with me-if he had, I would have been aware of this," she said. "I had no clue that this was coming. I thought everything was fine."
If Biro's appeal is denied by the committee, Harris said he plans to file suit against the University in civil court. Assistant University Counsel Kate Hendricks refused to comment on the pending case.
Although no athlete has ever appealed a decision to revoke a scholarship for disciplinary reasons, Harris said he is confident that Biro's case will succeed.
"What you have here is a coach that will have Erica lose her scholarship because she speaks her mind," he said. "That is not a reason to terminate a scholarship. He knows he has to justify what he is doing so he makes these things up. It's unfortunate a coach would do that."
Ashworth explicitly denied these claims and said t Biro not only broke team rules, but she also had a poor worth ethic, a bad attitude and an inability to get along with members of the team.
"You also have to remember it's not a win-lose thing," Ashworth said. "It's more than that. It's a lot more than just winning matches. She could have played a lot harder."
Regardless of whether the appeal is denied or upheld, Biro said she will return to Duke for the fall semester. Ashworth has informed her that even if her scholarship is reinstated, she will not be invited back to the tennis team.
"He's done this to me," Biro said. "My teammates didn't just lose a player, they lost a friend."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.