Nov. 29, 2011

MILWAUKEE - Cassie Kovach of Naperville, Ill., has signed a National Letter of Intent to play tennis at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, while Dana Shannon of Hazel Crest, Ill., has signed an Intent to Enroll and will also join the tennis team.

The duo will join coach Sean McInerney's squad in the fall of 2012.

Kovach, currently a senior at Benet Academy in Lisle, Ill., is rated as a three-star recruit who has been ranked as high as 152nd in the country on tennisrecruiting.com. She claimed 14 singles wins this fall in leading Benet to a sectional championship and the Illinois state tournament. As a junior, she helped her team to a sixth-place finish in the state.

"Cassie will be a great fit in our program," McInerney said. "She is an extremely talented player that will only get better at Milwaukee. I am looking forward to Cassie stepping up her game, working hard and having an immediate impact in our lineup. She has the potential to be a great college player and I am looking forward to watching her accept this challenge."

Shannon, who is currently a senior at Homewood-Floosmoor High School, is also a three-star recruit who has been ranked in the top 300 nationally on tennisrecruiting.com. She claimed three doubles wins at the state tournament this fall in helping Homewood-Floosmoor to a fifth-place finish in the state. Shannon has actually qualified for state in doubles in all four years of high school. As a junior, she won 26 doubles matches and reached the fourth round of the state tournament.

"We are very lucky to get a player of Dana's potential into our program," McInerney said. "I feel very strongly that she has only scratched the surface of what her game will become. She is an extremely hard worker both on the court and off. I am very excited to be a part of her tennis development and feel she will have an immediate impact on our team as a freshman."