BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU women’s tennis co-head coaches Julia and Michael Sell announced Thursday the signing of Raveena Kingsley, the nation’s No. 2 ranked player according to tennisrecruiting.net.
Kingsley boasts a WTA World Pro ranking of 613 and has been ranked as high as 22 in the ITF World Junior rankings. A Fulton, Maryland native, Kingsley is the top-ranked player in the middle Atlantic area and Maryland.
The highest-ranked American signee in the history of the program, Kingsley recorded two wins over WTA top-160 opponents. Kingsley owns a win over World No. 158 Cagla Buyukakcay at the USTA 25K Rock Hill event and defeated World No. 134 Andrea Hlavackova at the US Open Women’s qualifying event this year.
Kingsley joins fellow blue chip recruits Jade Lewis (No. 10 nationally) and Rebecca Weissmann (No. 12 nationally) to form the top signing class in the history of the program.
The signing class, inked by the Sells, is the first to have three blue chip recruits in one year. LSU is also the only school in the Southeastern Conference and one of only two in the country to have three blue chip recruits sign this period.
“Adding Raveena to an already incredible group builds on all the excitement that is surrounding our program and this historic class,” co-head coach Julia Sell said. “Raveena is a very dedicated and passionate player who has proven herself as one of the top juniors in the world. She comes from a great family, and we are excited for her to officially join the Tiger family.”
The signing of Kingsley, Lewis and Weismann marks the continued progression and development of the program under the Sells. Over the last four years, the duo has combined to sign five blue chip recruits.
The success on the recruiting trail has paid dividends on the court as the team finished last season ranked 23rd and with a 20-11 record in dual match play. The Lady Tigers reached the 20-win mark for the third time in school history. The team advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time and the semifinals of the SEC Tournament for just the third time.
Individually, the entire roster has continued developing. Junior Joana Vale Costa and senior Skylar Kuykendall became the 14th and 15th players in school history to reach the 30-win mark. Individually, Vale Costa earned the highest ranked singles win for an LSU player since 2009.
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