ITHACA, N.Y. — On top of a three-win improvement in the Ivy League last season and having no graduating seniors, the women's tennis team will be further bolstered by an incoming freshman class which was unveiled Friday morning. Mike Stevens, who will be entering his sixth season as the Carl H. Meinig '31 Head Coach of Women's Tennis, has announced that Mariko Iinuma, Nicole Johnston and Michelle Wang will join the program for the 2015-16 season. All three newcomers have been ranked in the Tennis Recruiting Network's Top 100 recruits for their class.
 
The Big Red is coming off a 9-9 season in which it won three Ivy League matches for just the third time since 1997. Dena Tanenbaum (singles) and Alexandra D'Ascenzo (doubles) both earned All-Ivy League Second Team honors, and the squad ultimately finished on the immediate outskirts of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Top 75 teams despite knocking off three ranked opponents.
 
Class of 2019 Player Biographies
Mariko Iinuma
5-foot-7 – San Mateo, Calif. (Hillsdale HS)
Iinuma is currently ranked 85th in the Tennis Recruiting Network's list for her class, and she was ranked as high as 73rd in the nation and seventh in northern California. A two-time captain for Hillsdale HS, Iinuma won consecutive Peninsula Athletic League singles titles in 2012, 2013 and 2014, plus a doubles title in 2013. She also advanced to the finals of the Central Coast Section singles championships in 2014, and won a sectional doubles title in 2013.
 
Nicole Johnston
5-foot-10 – Atlanta, Ga. (Saint Stephen's Episcopal School [Fla.])
Johnston is currently ranked 60th in the Tennis Recruiting Network's list for her class and among the top five from Georgia, and she was ranked as high as 52nd in the nation and is classified as a five-star recruit. She won the singles title at the USTA Southern Level 1A Championship in May 2014. She helped Saint Stephen's win a regional championship during her freshman season and a district championship as junior. Johnston was named the team's most valuable player as a freshman, and advanced to the Florida state finals in both singles and doubles.
 
Michelle Wang
5-foot-4 – Sammamish, Wash. (Redmond HS)
Wang is currently ranked 109th in the Tennis Recruiting Network's list for her class and second in both the state of Washington and the Northwest region. Classified as a four-star recruit, she was ranked as high as 97th. She is also ranked 116th by the USTA, and spent time in top 70 in 2014. Wang was a member of the National Honor Society and received an AP Scholar with Honor Award.