Dec. 11, 2008

Katie Lee

Kata Székely

An accomplished juniors player in Australia, Lee is currently ranked No. 88 in her home country. She will arrive in Knoxville this January with a long list of impressive credentials. In 2008 alone, Lee has reached at least the quarterfinals of singles play in seven different tournaments, while winning the doubles competitions in five, including the Chinchilla Open, North Queensland Open, Noosa Open, Queensland Open and Caloundra AMT.

She also advanced to both the singles and doubles finals at the Queensland State Championships in 2003, 2005 and 2007, winning the under-12 doubles title in 2003 and the under-14 doubles championship in 2005. In addition, Lee participated on the 2006 Pizzey Cup Australian Secondary School Team and represented Queensland as the top player on both the under-14 and under-16 squads, reaching the singles semifinals of the Australian Hardcourt and Winter National Championships in 2005 and the quarterfinals of the same competitions in 2006. Lee has trained under former tennis professional Charlie Fancutt and alongside current Lady Vol Maria Sorbello and UT men's tennis player John-Patrick Smith for most of her junior career.

"Katie is a tremendous competitor," Patrick said. "She has quick hands and a great volley. She should immediately add some competitive depth to both our singles and doubles lineups and work her way up as she gets acclimated to our program and life in another country. We are really looking forward to getting her on campus and getting her ready for this season."

A native of Szekesfehervar, Hungary, Székely will bring a wealth of international experience to the Lady Vol program. A three-time age-group singles titlist at the Hungarian Championships, she has also competed for the Hungarian National Team at tournaments in Belarus and Portugal. Individually, Székely has finished third in singles at the 2005 European Junior Tour stop in Slovakia and claimed doubles runner-up honors and third-place in singles play at the 2006 International Tennis Federation tournament in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

"Kata is a very crafty, left-handed player," Patrick said. "We got to watch her compete this summer, and you can tell she is just a real knowledgeable, tactical player. She's not overwhelming physically, but is very smart and has good racket skills and court sense."

The Lady Vols will open the spring portion of their schedule at the Michigan Invitational from Jan. 17-19. UT's first dual match will take place at 1 p.m. on Sat., Jan. 24, against Illinois in Champaign, Ill. From there, the Big Orange will travel to West Lafayette, Ind., to take on Purdue the following day.