Nov. 23, 2009

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - University of Memphis women's tennis coach Lee Taylor Walker announced the signing of Portage, Mich., native Kathleen Hawkins for the 2010-11 recruiting class on Monday morning. Hawkins, a senior at Kalamazoo Hacket Central Catholic High School, picked Memphis over offers from Indiana and Western Michigan.

"Kathleen is an incredible athlete that is maturing as a tennis player each and every day," Walker said. "She has incredible size and length combined with some good touch. Kathleen is going to be a lot of fun to work with and she will add some character to our team."

Hawkins is rated as a four-star recruit by tennisrecruiting.net. She is ranked among the Top 25 players in the Great Lakes region and is considered the third-best recruit in the state of Michigan.

Hawkins has won two state titles so far in her high school tennis career for the Fighting Irish women's tennis team. She won the Division 4 state title in No. 1 singles in 2008 and in No. 2 singles in 2009.

Hawkins joins recent signee Sarah Witkowski in the 2010-11 recruiting class. Witkowski is ranked among the Top 25 recruits in the Southern region according to sta.usta.com.

Hawkins and Witkowski will join a young squad for the 2010-11 season that will consist of the Tigers' three current freshmen Andrea Arques-Garcia, ranked among the Top 90 women's tennis players in Spain coming out of high school, Courtney Collins, a Top 50 recruit in the nation out of Mississippi last season and Kelly Gray, a Top 50 recruit in the Southeast region out of Murfreesboro, Tenn.