Photo by: Texas A&M Athletics
Weaver Completes Women’s Tennis Recruiting Class
Apr 25, 2016 | Women's Tennis
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Standout women's tennis players Tina Bokhua and Macarena Olivares committed to Texas A&M during the spring signing period and will begin playing for the Aggies in the fall, A&M head coach Mark Weaver announced. The two join Constance Branstine, a five-star blue chip high school senior who signed to play for the Aggies during the fall recruiting period.
"Patrick Sullivan (Texas A&M associate head coach) and I are extremely excited to announce our 2016-17 signing class," Weaver said. "Patrick deserves high praise in his recruiting efforts. We feel very confident that the future of the Aggies women's tennis program looks very bright. Although transfers are not considered part of the 2016 class for recruiting class rankings, this is without a doubt a top-10 recruiting class in my opinion."
Bokhua is a transfer from Colorado who will enter Texas A&M as a junior. The Moscow, Russia, native played No. 1 singles and doubles for the Buffaloes the past two seasons and was the 2015 ITA Mountain Region Rookie of the Year after finishing her freshman year as the No. 4-ranked singles player in the region.
This past year, Bokhua was ranked as high as No. 42 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) singles rankings. A former member of the Russian Junior National Team, Bokhua went 4-3 against nationally ranked players and posted a 7-1 record at the No. 1 singles line.
"Tina comes in with proven results already at the highest of collegiate levels," Weaver said. "She played No. 1 singles in the very strong Pac 12 Conference against all the heavyweights such as Stanford, USC, UCLA and Cal Berkeley. She has already been battling it out with the very finest players in college tennis and has done quite well. I have seen her play in the fall national events, and I was very impressed by her level of play. I feel that she will have a very smooth transition here at Texas A&M and will fit right in with the strong SEC schedule that we face every year."
Olivares played two seasons at ASA College in Miami. As a freshman, the singles and doubles All-American led the Lady Avengers to the NJCAA women's team national championship title, and she also was the Flight 1 national champion in both singles and doubles to finish with a No. 1 national ranking. Named an ITA Collegiate All-Star in 2015, she was the only NJCAA player selected, and she was one of only two junior college student-athletes to receive the honor.
From Santiago, Chile, Olivares was a member of the Chilean junior and senior national teams and peaked at No. 578 in the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) world rankings.
"Macarena helped her team win the NJCAA Division I National Championships and she also is the national champion in both singles and doubles," Weaver said. "She also comes in with a wealth of international experience from competing in the ITF junior level events and also competing as an amateur on the professional circuit. She has had great success at every level that she has played, and I am very confident she will continue on with her already successful career here at Texas A&M."
Branstine, from Orange, California, who was rated the 30th-top prospect in the national according to TennisRecruiting.net when she signed in November, is now ranked the No. 24 recruit in the 2016 high school class.
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M women's tennis. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M women's tennis team on Twitter by following @AggieWTEN or on Facebook at Facebook.com/AggieWomensTennis.
"Patrick Sullivan (Texas A&M associate head coach) and I are extremely excited to announce our 2016-17 signing class," Weaver said. "Patrick deserves high praise in his recruiting efforts. We feel very confident that the future of the Aggies women's tennis program looks very bright. Although transfers are not considered part of the 2016 class for recruiting class rankings, this is without a doubt a top-10 recruiting class in my opinion."
Bokhua is a transfer from Colorado who will enter Texas A&M as a junior. The Moscow, Russia, native played No. 1 singles and doubles for the Buffaloes the past two seasons and was the 2015 ITA Mountain Region Rookie of the Year after finishing her freshman year as the No. 4-ranked singles player in the region.
This past year, Bokhua was ranked as high as No. 42 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) singles rankings. A former member of the Russian Junior National Team, Bokhua went 4-3 against nationally ranked players and posted a 7-1 record at the No. 1 singles line.
"Tina comes in with proven results already at the highest of collegiate levels," Weaver said. "She played No. 1 singles in the very strong Pac 12 Conference against all the heavyweights such as Stanford, USC, UCLA and Cal Berkeley. She has already been battling it out with the very finest players in college tennis and has done quite well. I have seen her play in the fall national events, and I was very impressed by her level of play. I feel that she will have a very smooth transition here at Texas A&M and will fit right in with the strong SEC schedule that we face every year."
Olivares played two seasons at ASA College in Miami. As a freshman, the singles and doubles All-American led the Lady Avengers to the NJCAA women's team national championship title, and she also was the Flight 1 national champion in both singles and doubles to finish with a No. 1 national ranking. Named an ITA Collegiate All-Star in 2015, she was the only NJCAA player selected, and she was one of only two junior college student-athletes to receive the honor.
From Santiago, Chile, Olivares was a member of the Chilean junior and senior national teams and peaked at No. 578 in the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) world rankings.
"Macarena helped her team win the NJCAA Division I National Championships and she also is the national champion in both singles and doubles," Weaver said. "She also comes in with a wealth of international experience from competing in the ITF junior level events and also competing as an amateur on the professional circuit. She has had great success at every level that she has played, and I am very confident she will continue on with her already successful career here at Texas A&M."
Branstine, from Orange, California, who was rated the 30th-top prospect in the national according to TennisRecruiting.net when she signed in November, is now ranked the No. 24 recruit in the 2016 high school class.
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M women's tennis. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M women's tennis team on Twitter by following @AggieWTEN or on Facebook at Facebook.com/AggieWomensTennis.
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