NEWARK, NJ—Five student-athletes—two from the United States, two from Eastern Europe and one from Canada--have signed National Letters of Intent to enroll at NJIT and compete in the highly-successful women's tennis program beginning in the fall of 2010, head coach Mike Sowter announced.
The signees, all 2010 high school graduates, are (listed alphabetically):
Megan Guidry from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Saint Joseph's Academy
Ksenia Kuzmenko from Moscow, Russia, and Luchik Education Centre
Jana Luste from Riga, Latvia, and High School #64
Hannelore MacDonald from Mundelein (IL) High School
Martina Tripcovici from Montreal, Quebec, and Ecole Secondaire Felix-Leclerc
The signees will join a program that has done well in all four years since beginning Division I competition in 2006-07.
A regional power in women's tennis its last few years in Division II, NJIT has had winning seasons each year in Division I, including a 14-11 overall mark in 2009-10.
Since beginning Division I competition, NJIT's combined match record is 51-35 (14-8 in 2006-07; 12-7 in 2007-08; 11-9 in 2008-09; and 14-11 in 2009-10).
--Megan Guidry, from Saint Joseph's Academy in Louisiana's state capital, was listed among the top five senior prospects in her state by the web site tennisrecruiting.net and was a three-year letter winner in high school.
She plans to pursue pre-med studies as a student enrolled in NJIT's Albert Dorman Honors College.
--Ksenia Kuzmenko, from Moscow, Russia, spent time this year in Granite Bay, CA, and ranked as high as number 150 among national senior prospects, according to tennisrecruiting.net. The same web site ranked her 35th in the southwest region of the United States and 33rd in California. In 2010, she was 2-0 against “five-star” prospects, the second-highest level of player in the tennisrecruiting.net ratings system.
She plans to major in communications at NJIT.
--Jana Luste, from Riga, Latvia, has ranked as high as 1507 in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) junior rankings. She has also been as high as 22 in the Latvian national under 21 rankings and was a doubles semifinalist in the 2008 under 18 Latvian Indoor Championships.
She plans to major in interior design at NJIT.
--Hannelore MacDonald, from Mundelein, IL, ranks number 271 among national senior prospects, according to the latest rankings on tennisrecruiting.net. She is 39th in the Great Lakes region and 17th in Illinois, according to the same web site.
A four-year letter winner at Mundelein High School, she was an Illinois State Qualifier her first three seasons and was the team Most Valuable Player in 2009.
Graduating in the top five percent of her high school class, she plans to major in biomedical engineering and will enroll in NJIT's Albert Dorman Honors College.
--Martina Tripcovici, from Montreal, has ranked as high as 1392 in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) junior rankings and as high as number 34 in the Canadian under 18 rankings.
She plans to major in biology at NJIT.
Mike Sowter, who has led NJIT's fortunes the last two seasons and coached against the Highlanders the previous two seasons when he was head coach at Hofstra, is excited about the prospects for the future.
“We've done well in the past and had some tremendous individual performers,” said the coach. “But this group, if it plays to its potential, could give us the best team, top-to-bottom, that NJIT has had.”
