Photo by: Robert Branning
Latest Women's Tennis Recruiting Class Earns National Recognition
August 10, 2022 | Women's Tennis
BOSTON – The Boston University women's tennis team will enter the 2022-23 season with another heralded recruiting class, as the three incoming freshmen, Rhea Rai, Navya Vadlamudi and Emily Zhao, were ranked No. 18 in the mid-major poll released by TennisRecruiting.net for the highest-ranked class in the Patriot League.
Authored each of the last 16 years, the TRN mid-major rankings include all colleges outside of the Power 5 (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC) and the Ivy League. Overall, head coach Lesley Sheehan's recruiting efforts have been recognized in the poll 13 times, two more than the next closest team. All three freshmen ranked in the top 70 individually by TRN at one point over the last four years.
Rhea Rai
Emily Zhao
From Palos Verdes Estates, California, Zhao joins BU as the No. 60 recruit in the nation. The four-star recruit is listed as the No. 11 recruit from Calif. and the No. 14 recruit in the Southwest according to TRN. Most recently, Zhao took the Girls 18 & under singles title at the 120th Annual Ojai Junior Tournament.
Authored each of the last 16 years, the TRN mid-major rankings include all colleges outside of the Power 5 (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC) and the Ivy League. Overall, head coach Lesley Sheehan's recruiting efforts have been recognized in the poll 13 times, two more than the next closest team. All three freshmen ranked in the top 70 individually by TRN at one point over the last four years.
Rhea Rai
A five-star recruit out of Cupertino, California, Rai was ranked as high as No. 63 in the 2022 recruiting class by TRN. Rai was also ranked No. 8 in the nation for her strength of schedule by TRN. She placed fourth at the L3 National Championships and served as her high school's varsity team captain. Most recently, she advanced to the semifinals at the Gripspin Tennis Junior Level 3 Girls 18 Sectionals in singles.
A Plano, Texas, native and four-star recruit Vadlamudi joins the Terriers as the No. 5 recruit out of Texas and the No. 7 recruit in the Gulf States region. She most recently competed at the USTA Girls' 18s National Clay Court Championships at LTP in which she advanced to the round of 128 before advancing to the consolation round of 64.
Emily ZhaoFrom Palos Verdes Estates, California, Zhao joins BU as the No. 60 recruit in the nation. The four-star recruit is listed as the No. 11 recruit from Calif. and the No. 14 recruit in the Southwest according to TRN. Most recently, Zhao took the Girls 18 & under singles title at the 120th Annual Ojai Junior Tournament.
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