EIU Women's Tennis Recruits Photo Gallery
CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois women's tennis coach
Chris Tolson has stocked up with his first recruiting class adding five players to the Panthers roster. Set to join the Panthers next fall are Haley Bushman, Lauren Ellis, Theresa Kavtaradze, Claire Perez-Korinko and Kaitlyn Snyder.
"I am extremely excited to have these young ladies join me in my first recruiting class at EIU. We have a great foundation already in place within our women's tennis program, so our focus was finding student athletes with the right core values because that will be what takes our program to the next level in competing for OVC Championships," said Tolson. "These young ladies are truly student-athletes and want to succeed in the classroom and get their degrees. They all are very athletic, have a great work ethic and still have a love/passion for the game, which means their best tennis is still to come. The last thing is they want to be a part of something bigger than just themselves. The culture of EIU Tennis is something that is going to grow and will be contagious to where every alumnus and player are going to be proud of this program and where we are headed."
Bushman is from St. Augustine, Fla., and is currently being homeschooled. She was the 2016 District and Region Champion while playing at Bartram Trail High School. She earned first team All-County honors in 2018 and second team honors as a freshman in 2016. She was a USTA Kelly Tennis Scholarship Award Winner and a two-time Sportsmanship Award winner. Bushman plans to major in athletic training.
Ellis is from Danville, Ill., and played at Danville HS. She has played at No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles all four seasons. Ellis posted a high school record of 87-29 and was a four-time All-Big 12 Conference selection. As a senior she was the individual champion at the Bradley-Bourbonnais Sectional advancing to the IHSA Class 2A State Tournament. Ellis advanced to the state tournament in doubles as a junior. She was named the Mid-South Illinois Female Player of the Year. Ellis plans to major in Speech Pathology.
Theresa Kavtaradze is from Sea Girt, NJ and attends AOA Academy. She is a Top 10 player on the Tennis Recruiting Hot 100 National List and won both the USTA Most Improved and Sportsmanship Awards. She was in the USTA Top 20 Rankings for Girl's 12s – 16s and is a Top 10 USTA Girls 18 in New Jersey. Kavtaradze earned All-Shore Conference honors.
Perez-Korinko is from Agoura Hills, Calif., and attends Chaminade HS. She is a four-time CIF playoffs qualifier and was a two-time Sunshine Conference League champion and finished second in the CIF Southern Sectional. This past season she helped her team finish second in the Mission League. Perez-Korinko earned the Most Spirited Player Award. She plans to major in athletic training.
Synder is from Springfield Mo., and played at Republic HS. She played at No. 1 singles as a senior posting a 30-3 record. She was a three-time Central Ozark Conference Singles Champion and two-time conference doubles champion. She won the district championship in 2018. Synder is rated No. 9 in Missouri and was named the Republic HS Female Athlete of the Year. She plans to major in nursing.
EIU will open the 2019 spring schedule on Jan. 19 playing Olivet Nazarene.
