Portland Tennis lands 2 Key Recruits

May 25, 2013; Paris, FRANCE; A general view of a tennis ball on a clay court before the 2013 French Open at Roland Garros. Mandatory Credit: Matthias Hauer/GEPA via USA TODAY Sports

In recent memory it’s been the Portland women’s soccer and men’s cross country programs that have made big splashes in the national recruiting scene, but this season it has been the UP women’s tennis program that has been making a name for itself. The Pilots have recently announced the signings of two WTA ranked athletes. That is two more commitments from WTA ranked tennis players than Portland has ever had.  The two athletes, first Jelena Lazarevic and then Lucia Butkovska of Serbia and Slovakia respectively, will join a Portland group that finished the season with an 8-14 overall record starting three true freshmen and a sophomore.

To put it in perspective receiving commitments from two WTA ranked tennis players is comparable to receiving commitments from two top 50 recruits in basketball. This is program changing talent coming to join a team that featured three freshmen in the starting lineup. The added depth that this provides is a massive advantage and with that added depth expectations will be sure to follow.  

This could be a sign of things to come. Word is that former Pilot and now assistant coach Filip Zivkovic has had a huge impact on making connections and selling the University of Portland as the best place for these young athletes to continue their careers. Bottom line is that head coach Susie Campbell-Gross and Zivkovic have done a fantastic job of attracting talent and are setting up Portland to take another athletic program to national prominence.