University of Tennessee Athletics
Staines Signs with Lady Vols
November 13, 2017 | Women's Tennis
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee women's tennis team inked its first signee of the 2018 class Monday in Kaitlin Staines.
A native of New South Wales, Australia, Staines is the second Australian player to sign under head coach Alison Ojeda, joining freshman Tenika McGiffin. Staines, an early enrollee, will join the Lady Vols in January and will be eligible to start competing.
"I'm really excited about Kaitlin choosing to become a Tennessee Vol," said Ojeda. "She's going to be an incredible addition to our program, and I'm positive she will love her experience here on Rocky Top. She is a top 100 player in the world, represents Australia's junior Fed Cup Team and has competed in the junior Australian Open. It goes without saying that she's a program changer and one of the top recruits in the country."
Staines has a career-high ITF juniors ranking of 93, coming in January this year. Since the beginning of 2016, she has reached the semifinals or better in 10 tournaments in doubles and five in singles.
Staines won the singles and doubles titles for the 2016 South Pacific Open Junior Championships and Oceania Open Junior Championships. During that same year, she also claimed the doubles title at the Rumba Resort Queensland Junior Winter International 1. In April of 2016, she was selected to represent Australia at the Junior Fed Cup.
This year, Staines advanced to the doubles final of the AGL Loy Yang Traralgon Junior International, a Grade 1 tournament. She currently boasts a 59-20 doubles record in juniors as well as a 44-25 singles record.
"Tennessee has given me a huge opportunity to play at a very high level of competition and earn a college degree, which I think is incredible to be able to get the best of both worlds," Staines said. "It's going to be an honor playing for Tennessee as well as a great bunch of girls on the team. I'm fortunate enough to spend this experience with my awesome coach and my Aussie mates!"
The Lady Vols wrapped up their fall season with the Tennessee Fall Invite at the end of October. The team will return to action on Jan. 20-21, when they hit the road to face Old Dominion and William & Mary to begin the spring season.
For the most up-to-date information about the Tennessee women's tennis program, follow @Vol_WTennis on Twitter.
Players Mentioned
