The LSU women’s tennis team’s recruiting class is ranked No. 1 in the nation by tennisrecruiting.net.
The No. 18 Lady Tigers announced the signing of No. 1 ranked American player Raveena Kingsley along with No. 10 Jade Lewis and No. 13 Rebecca Weissmann inNovember.
Kingsley is from Fulton, Maryland, and competed in both the U.S. Open Junior Tennis Championship and The Junior Championships, Wimbledon making it to the round of 32 in both.
“You’re not just talking about one of the best players in the U.S., you’re talking about one of the best players in the world,” said LSU co-head coach Julia Sell.“There’s no higher rankings and awards that a player can come in with. She’s drawing not just national attention but internationalattention.”
Kingsley is 11-6 in matches overall and sports an impressive 4-0 record against five-star recruits.
“She’s one of the nicest kids you’ll ever meet, extremely hard working,” Sell said. “She loves to play and hasprofessional dreams.”
Jade Lewis hails from New Zealand but lives in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Her father is the head coach at the Ivan Lendl International Junior Tennis Academy and she is a niece of 1983Wimbledon finalist ChrisLewis.
“Jade Lewis comes from a pedigree of some famous tennis players and she competes as well as anyone out there,” said Julia Sell. “She’s very fast, moves very well and she knows how to breakdown her opponent and understands the court well.”
Lewis sports a 35-22 record overall, with a 3-0 record against five-star recruits.
Rebecca Weissmann is from Loveland, Colorado, where she recorded a 32-12 overall mark with an 11-1 record against five-star recruits during her high school career.
“{Weissmann] has always been a top American [player], coming up through her junior career,“ Sell said, “She understands how to win and loves, and she’s starting to beat players in the top 500 ITA.”
LSU is the only school to sign three blue chip recruits in the nation for the 2016 season.
“Both Julia and I were very involved during the fall [recruiting],” said LSU co-head coach Michael Sell. “Both of us had our own responsibilities with who we talked to and what we do but we both had very active roles.”
The 2016 recruiting class is also the highest ranked in team history, previously held by a No. 14 ranked class in 2013, during the first year of coach Julia Sell’s tenure.
The strong class adds to an already well respected team from the undefeated Lady Tigers.
“Top talent from around the country are coming and choosing LSU for many great reasons,” Michael said.