Cullowhee, N.C. -- Western Carolina head women's tennis coach
Bret Beaver is bringing in two new Catamounts for the 2025-26 season as he announced the additions of Jenelle Roberts and Axelle Van Beurden on National Signing Day.
With
Andrea Redondo and
Angela Perez coming into the 2025 spring season as seniors, the two Catamount newcomers will join a veteran roster consisting of
Isabella Sambola,
Jade Groen,
Madison Schwarz,
Chloe Schwarz,
Dasha Osadova and July of 2024 signee,
Zoe Lui.
The sole American of the pair, Jenelle Roberts will be the third national top-150 recruit on the roster alongside
Isabella Sambola (2022, No. 55) and
Zoe Lui (2024, No. 136). According to tennisrecruiting.net, Roberts is the 148th rated player in the nation and the 7th ranked player in the state of Georgia. The 5'7 Sugar Hill, Ga. product comes to Cullowhee after an accomplished high school career, where she was named the 2023 Gwinnett County Player of the Year. Additionally, Roberts earned the NGHS Varsity Coaches Award that same year, as she finished as the 7A state runner-up.
An international product, Axelle Van Beurden comes to Cullowhee from Antwerp, Belgium after an accomplished juniors career. In her U14 career, Beurden claimed a Tennis Europe victory, winning doubles three times in the category. Under 18, Beurden played in the International Tennis Federation semi-finals and won doubles.
The opening of this week's signing period is the first for the NCAA without the traditional National Letter of Intent (NLI), marking a historic shift in intercollegiate athletics. Student-athletes now formally commit to their chosen institutions by signing a standard athletic aid agreement instead of the previously binding NLI.
Top Catamount tennis recruits since 2016 according to tennisrecruiting.net*:
Isabella Sambola: 2022 | 55th Nationally, 1st in Louisiana
Jacy Smith: 2018 | 75th Nationally, 7th in Texas
Zoe Lui: 2024 | 144th Nationally, 1st in Arizona
Jenelle Roberts: 2025 | 148th Nationally, 7th in Georgia
Antonella Benavides: 2020 | 147th Nationally, 11th in Texas
Jordan Strickland: 2016 | 157th Nationally, 3rd in North Carolina
Carling Deehr: 2017 | 181st Nationally, 4th in Georgia
Emily Elliott: 2019 | 197th Nationally, 10th in South Carolina
Julia Pezzuco: 2018 | 201st Nationally, 1st in Rhode Island
BOLD = Current player
*International athlete rankings not provided
