June 2, 2008

Fairfield, CT - Sacred Heart women's tennis head coach Mike Guastelle has announced that the Pioneers will welcome three new players to their line-up this fall. SHU's newcomers are Kristina Chao (Needham, MA), Kate Donnelly (Barnstable, MA) and Delaney Downing (Cherry Creek Village, CO).

A Needham, MA native, Chao currently ranked 24th in the USTA New England 18 and under rankings. She has been ranked as high as 399 in the Tennisrecruiting.net senior national rankings and currently is ranked 9th in the state of Massachusetts. She reached the finals of the Massachusetts State South Sectional singles tournament as a junior.

Donnelly is currently ranked 7th in the state of Massachusetts and 341st in the latest TennisRecruiting.net senior national rankings. As a senior, she reached the Massachusetts State South Sectional singles tournament finals and is currently ranked 27th in the USTA New England 18 and under Rankings.

Downing, who comes to SHU all the way from Colorado, was ranked among the top ten senior players in the state of Colorado this past season. Downing has been ranked as high as 418th in the Tennisrecruiting.net senior national rankings. She currently has two sisters playing on the east coast, at Bryant and Hofstra.

"Delaney, Kate and Kristina have been highly ranked in their USTA regional rankings and have great experience at the junior tournament level," Guastelle said. "All three players should give our team excellent depth in our lineup and will help us hopefully reach our goal of an NEC championship."