Lady Vol tennis signs Tiffany Tavares

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee women's tennis program completed its 2012 recruiting class with the addition of Las Vegas native Tiffany Tavares, who signed a National Letter of Intent to play for the Lady Vols.

"She has a lot of potential and we're looking forward to working with her over the next four years," co-head coach Mike Patrick said. "We're excited about our class." A five-star recruit and the 55th-best prospect nationally according to TennisRecruiting.net, Tavares won the Class 4A state singles championship as a senior, accounting for Spring Valley High School's first state tennis title.

The top-ranked recruit in the state of Nevada also advanced to the state championship during her sophomore season and the semifinals as a junior.

Tavares also recorded back-to-back Southern Zone Regional Tennis Tournament titles as a junior and senior.

Currently enrolled at Odyssey Charter School, Tavares is Tennessee's second recruit out of Las Vegas in as many years, also inking blue-chip and five-star signee Sarah Toti in 2011.

Tavares' commitment marks the second consecutive year that Tennessee has signed Nevada's top-ranked prospect.

Tavares joins Mimi Fotopoulos of Prairie Village, Kan., in Tennessee's 2012 signing class. Also a five-star recruit, Fotopoulos was a two-time National High School Tennis All-American and captured the last two 6A Kansas state singles championships.

As for the current Lady Vols, they await the NCAA.com Selection Show on Tuesday, May 1, at 5 p.m. ET to discover their opening destination for the 2012 NCAA Tournament.