Lady Vols sign five-star tennis recruit

The University of Tennessee women’s tennis team has signed Natalie Pluskota of Newnan, Ga., to a National Letter of Intent, co-head coaches Mike Patrick and Sonia Hahn-Patrick announced Wednesday. Pluskota is ranked as the No. 29 player in the nation, as well as a five-star recruit by TennisRecruiting.net.

“Natalie will bring a ton of enthusiasm, energy and excitement to our team,” co-head coach Mike Patrick said. “She is a true Lady Volunteer and we are very excited to have her on board.”

Pluskota is coming off an incredibly productive summer, which she opened by teaming with Christy Core to claim the United States Tennis Association National Opens doubles title in Atlanta, Ga., in May. The next month saw her travel to Little Rock, Ark., where she proceeded to sweep through six rounds of singles play to take home the Southern BG18 Closed championship. Following that victory, Pluskota was named to the USTA Southern National Team. She is currently ranked as the third-best player in the state of Georgia and the 12th-best in the Southeast by TennisRecruiting.net.

The Newnan, Ga., native has also had a standout high school career, amassing the Northgate H.S. record for most career wins. In addition to lettering in tennis three times, she is a four-year letterman on the basketball team and has lettered once in cross-country. Pluskota has also served as captain for both the tennis and basketball squads for one season each.

The Lady Vol tennis team will return to competitive action Jan. 18, when they will open the spring campaign against Middle Tennessee State at the Goodfriend Tennis Center in Knoxville.