WOMEN'S TENNIS HAS IMPRESSIVE OFF-SEASON
August 18, 2009 | Women's Tennis
Aug. 18, 2009
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - The Boston College women's tennis team will be reporting back to school on September 8 following an impressive summer run.
The Eagles will be bringing in one of their most talented freshman classes in quite some time. The Tennis Recruiting Network ranked the Eagles' freshman class as the 21st best in the nation.
The class will be comprised of three talented players: Alex Kelleher from Worcester, Mass., Olga Khmylev from Williamsville N.Y., and Ina Kauppila from Finland will be joining the Eagles in the fall of 2009.
According to the Tennis Recruiting Network, Kelleher and Khmylev are both rated as five-star recruits. Kelleher is currently ranked 58th in the country and second in the state of Massachusetts, while Khmylev is ranked 25th in the country and second in the state of New York.
Kauppila enjoyed a good deal of success playing tennis in Finland and hopes to bring that success to the collegiate level.
"Alex, Olga and Ina will bring energy, enthusiasm and talent to our team," head coach Nigel Bentley said. "They work very hard on the tennis court and in the classroom. They are terrific players and we are very happy they chose to come to Boston College."
Boston College also received several impressive academic honors this summer. The Eagles as a team earned ITA All-Academic honors, and three players were named ITA Scholar Athletes. Two of the players who were honored just graduated in Dasha Cherkasov and Alina Sullivan, while Jacqueline Mabatah will be a junior the season.
The ITA All-Academic Team award is open to any ITA program that has a cumulative team grade point average of 3.20 or above (on a 4.00 scale). All eligible student-athletes whose names appear on the NCAA/NAIA/NJCAA eligibility form and have competed in one or more varsity matches must average into the GPA for the current academic year (including fall 2008 and spring 2009).
