Hoosiers Sign Four for 2017

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana women's tennis head coach Ramiro Azcui has announced the addition of four students that will start at IU in the fall of 2017.

The freshmen class includes Andjelija Bozovic (Burr Ridge, Ill.), Michelle McKamey (Paducah, Ky.) and Olga Zavarotnaya (Vitebsk, Belarus). In addition, Xiwei Cai from Tianjin, China will join the Hoosiers after transferring from Southern Illinois, following the removal of the program.

Azcui said the coaching staff is looking forward to the new additions to the IU women's tennis program.

"We are so excited to welcome this class to our program," he said. "We expect these young ladies to help us continue our tradition of success in the classroom, on the tennis court, and in the community."

Bozovic played her high school tennis at Lyons Township and finished with an overall record of 90-14. Most recently she placed sixth at the IHSA State Tournament and helped her team to an IHSA Sectional Championship. Her team finished 2016 as IHSA State Girls Tennis Runner-Ups.

Bozovic is a Girls Tennis High School All-American and earned IHSA All-State honors. In addition, she earned the Outstanding Freshman and Outstanding Sophomore Awards.

"Jelly is one of the best players in the Chicago area in her recruiting class, an area that produces great tennis talent each year," Azcui said. "She is an excellent athlete with an all-court game. During the recruiting process, we were always impressed by Jelly's eagerness to play for Indiana, and we think she will wear the Indiana uniform with great pride."

McKamey, a native of Paducah, Ky., played high school tennis at McCracken County High School. She made a splash early in her high school career as the 2014 KHSAA State Singles Champion in her freshman season. In her sophomore season, she reached the final four at the state tournament and finished runner-up in her junior year.

McKamey was a three-time All-State honoree and in her sophomore and junior seasons helped her team win the KHSAA State Championship. She earned a No. 1 USTA Kentucky ranking and consistently was top-20 southern section ranking and top-100 national ranking on tennisrecruting.net.

"We are excited to have Michelle at Indiana," Azcui said. "Michelle is a great athlete and ball-striker. Michelle comes to us from Paducah, KY, where she was the Kentucky state singles champion in 2014. We are excited to see how she will improve when she has access to great hitting partners and resources here at Indiana."

Olga Zavarotnaya comes to the Hoosiers from Vitebsk, Belarus and attended Hilton Head Preparatory School in Hilton Head, S.C.

Zavarotnaya intends to major in Management and Entrepreneurship at Indiana and earned the Harvard Book Award in high school. When she was nine years old Olga got a chance to hit with Jelena Jankovic (former world No. 1 singles player).

"Olga has had some excellent results against proven junior and collegiate players, and we expect her to make an impact in our lineup right away," Azcui said.

Xiwei Cai, a native of Tianjin, China, is tranfering to Indiana from Southern Illinois. She finished the season with a 15-18 singles record playing No. 1 and No. 2 for SIU. She also played on the No. 1 doubles team with Ana Cordero and the pair went 20-11 overall and 13-8 in dual matches.

Cai was the No. 1 ranked singles junior player and No. 5 ranked in junior doubles in China in 2010. In her junior season at SIU in 2015-16 she was one of six players in the MVC to earn All-Select recognition.

"We hope to give Xiwei a great experience for her final season of college tennis, and we are glad she is choosing to spend it with us," Azcui said. "Xiwei led SIU-Carbondale in wins each of the last two seasons, playing primarily #1 and #2 singles and doubles. She will bring great experience and depth to our lineup, and we look forward to her contributions to our program."

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