April 14, 2008

Fort Wayne, IN - IPFW head coach Eric Burns has signed three student-athletes for the women's tennis team, with the group to make their first appearances as a Mastodon during the 2008 fall season.

"This is a strong recruiting class for us and I think these players can help us as we continue our quest for the Summit League Championship and an NCAA berth," said Burns. "They will have a tough act to follow, as our three seniors led us to three consecutive winning seasons for the first time in our Division I history. The newcomers are all solid tennis players, and with experience, should be great players for IPFW. The three are also strong students. We will be a young team this year and for a couple of years to come; I think this group, combined with our current players, is capable of great things in the future."

Alexandra Forsyth (Bella Vista, AR - Bentonville H.S)
Alex is a two-star recruit on tennisrecruiting.net and is ranked as the No. 3 player in Arkansas. She helped lead Bentonville to three consecutive Arkansas 7A State tennis titles (2005-2007) and was named All-State in 2005 and 2006. She finished as runner-up in Arkansas in doubles (2005) and was a State semifinalist in singles in 2006. She represented Team Arkansas in the Federation Cup throughout her junior career. She also participated in the USTA 16-and-under Zonals in Waco, Texas while also participating in numerous National level tournaments. She finished 2006 ranked No. 83 in the USTA's Southern section. She plans on majoring in psychology at IPFW.

"Alex is very athletic and a hard hitter," commented Burns. "She has a lot of potential and should become an excellent college player with work and more match experience. I am excited that she chose to come to IPFW and I think she will be a great player for our program."

Katie Brien (Abbotsford, British Columbia-Canada - Robert Bateman Secondary)

Katie Brien finished 2007 with a singles ranking of No. 24 in the USTA's Pacific Northwest region

Katie is a three-star recruit on tennisrecruiting.net and finished 2007 with a singles ranking of No. 24 in the USTA's Pacific Northwest section; she also finished the year ranked No. 5 in doubles. In 2007, Katie was selected to the Girl's 18's USTA National Team Championships for the Pacific Northwest section. She was also selected to the World Team Tennis Junior Nationals in 2007. She ended 2006 ranked No. 48 in Canada in 18-and-under singles and No. 46 in doubles. Selected to and competed in the Canadian National Championships in 2005 and 2006. She plans to major in pre-medicine at IPFW.

"Katie has had some success playing in the in the USTA Pacific Northwest and has beaten some strong players," said Burns. "Because of where she lives, she has traveled a lot to participate in tournaments. She will be a player that will only get better as she gets consistent competition daily and gets more match experience. We are excited to have her and I think she will be a great addition to our program."

Yuka Kobayashi (Yamaguchi-ken, Japan - Western Michigan University)
Yuka is a transfer from nationally-ranked Western Michigan University where she saw limited action during her freshman season. She compiled a singles record of 5-6 and a doubles record of 3-11 during her time with the Broncos, and has had success on the ITA Summer Circuit in 2007 where she won the consolation draw at Indiana University. In Japan she played in the National Athletic meet. Yuka is undecided on her major.

"Yuka is a great pick-up for our program," noted Burns. "She has spent one year training with a nationally ranked team and has seen some great competition. She had some good wins over Big Ten opponents and I expect her to be a solid contributor in both singles and doubles next season. She will bring an excellent work ethic to our team."