Thursday, April 7, 2011

Kaitlin Ray of Little Rock Signs with Tennis Powerhouse UCLA Bruins

As an energetic youngster growing up in Little Rock, Ark., Kaitlin Ray had several sports competing for her attention. One of them was tennis. But soccer and gymnastics were a lot of fun, too.

It took a few years, but Ray became serious about tennis. When that happened, at age 11, her enormous potential in the sport began to materialize.
The blue-chip recruit, who signed a scholarship in November to play tennis this fall at UCLA, emerged as a top junior in Arkansas. However, Ray didn't want to just be the best junior player in Arkansas. Achieving that objective would require a significant change.

"Little Rock is a great place to grow up, but it's not a tennis mecca," said Ray, who began playing tennis at age 4. "It was getting hard to find top players to play against."

Ray would soon learn there was a tennis mecca that could help her become a better player - the Smith Stearns Tennis Academy in Hilton Head Island, S.C. She began training at Smith Stearns in the first semester of her sophomore year in high school and has not regretted making that move.

"It's been a good decision for me," Ray said. "It was hard to leave my family and friends. (Smith Stearns) is such a positive environment and the staff is unbelievable. It's been the best two years of my life."

Under the tutelage of coaches B.J. Stearns, Billy Stearns and Jolene Watanabe, the 5-foot-5 Ray began taking her game to a higher level.

"All the coaches have been helpful, teaching me shot selection and strategy," Ray said. "They've really helped me to hit a bigger ball and you need that as you go higher."

Ray, 18, hit a lot of big balls at the recent USTA Regional Tournament Segment in January at Mobile, Ala., winning five straight matches to capture the Girls' 18 title. That championship, along with other excellent tournament results, helped Ray reach the top 25 nationally in USTA Girls' 18 singles and become a prized recruit.


Ray believes the skills she gained in soccer and gymnastics helped her on the tennis court.

"I loved both of them," Ray said. "They provided me with balance and were a good foundation. I quit gymnastics right when the routines were starting to get dangerous."

In exploring college options, Ray was faced with more choices. UCLA was on her list, as were top schools like Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech and North Carolina. Eventually, the chance to play for Stella Sampras Webster at UCLA was too good to pass up.

"When I visited UCLA, I fell in love with the coaching staff," Ray said. "Coach Sampras Webster and Rance Brown are dedicated to their program and they want you to get better in college."
Playing tennis in California won't be anything new for Ray. She has played the Easter Bowl in Palm Desert four times and the National Hard Courts in San Diego twice.

Ray plans to continue training at Smith Stearns through September, a few weeks before the start of her freshman year at UCLA. Then she will join one of the nation's best college programs for women's tennis.

By: TennisRecruiting.Net & Keith Kropp

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kaitlin Ray is by far the greatest female tennis player from the state of Arkansas. She played Lauren Davis in a grueling 2 hour match and came out on the short end. However, Lauren Davis needed only an hour to defeat Coco Vandeweghe, who played Fed Cup for the USA. Kudos, to Kaitlin for the tennis scholarship play for UCLA and for legend Pete Sampras' older sister, Stella, the UCLA coach.

Anonymous said...

Guys,
I would much rather have Kaitlin Ray's tennis game than Paula Juels. Ray's game went to the next level and national prominence. Juels' game seemed to sputter and settle at being just a good Arkansas tennis player.

Anonymous said...

Dudes,
Kaitlin Ray is ripped and has sexy abs similar to Jillian Michaels. She has to be not only the greatest tennis player from Arkansas, but the hottest tennis player from Arkansas. She can hang with Lauren Davis on the tennis court and the swimsuit models in Sports Illustrated!

Anonymous said...

Kaitlin Ray is the best Arkansas tennis star since Myke Loomis played #1 for the University of Alabama.

Anonymous said...

I read the ZooTennis.com article about K-Ray giving one of the world's top juniors, Lauren Davis, all she could handle for over 2 hours on the tennis court. K-Ray is the greatest Arkansas born tennis player of all time!

Anonymous said...

K-Ray is fit because Stan Smith's Academy stresses fitness. Arkansas stresses big bubba burgers, pork ribs, super size everything, and the only exercise the arms get is the movement of the fork up to the mouth and back to the plate. Way to go, K-Ray, for breaking the mold of what a true Arkansan resembles!

Anonymous said...

ur right about arkansas tennis players being overweight! i met an arkansas female tennis player that entered a natl 35s event in florida. she looked like one of those blubbery six-pack beer-toting women u see at a monster truck pull contest. i think the woman ran out of gas in the 3rd set after lugging around all that excess weight. when she stretched out on the court for a trainer examination, u would have thought u saw a beached whale.

Anonymous said...

Guys,
Lora Ann Baxley was a top-10 junior in the national rankings.

Anonymous said...

Lora Ann Baxley had a higher national ranking than all Arkansas female tennis players. Not in the Hall of Fame??? Juels-Jones and Pfeiffer are the most recent females in the Hall of Fame and Baxley not in!!! Guess who manages the Hall of Fame- Pfeiffer etal. Pfeiffer and Juels-Jones have maintained a close relationship for years. Kinda makes sense then that the Hall of Fame selection process is messed up. Maybe, with the recent resignation of Leslie Pfeiffer effective Dec. 31, the new management at the ATA can straighten out the crooked paths that Pfeiffer etal have made and the Hall of Fame selections will be more on merit than on favoritism!!!!

Anonymous said...

PFEIFFER IS OUT???? GREAT NEWS HERE!!! IT'LL BE INTERESTING WHO THE REPLACEMENT WILL BE!!!

Anonymous said...

I hope the search committee replacing Pfeiffer chooses a first class individual. Does anyone know the members of the search committee? Knowing who these characters are would give us in the tennis community a clue on their level competency in choosing a new executive director.

Anonymous said...

The Arkansas tennis community is a great bunch of people and deserve better service that a low life as Pfeiffer can give. The ATA elevated a little 3.0 level tennis player named Leslie Pfeiffer to the top post at the ATA. Hopefully, the next executive director has more knowledge about the game than what Pfeiffer brought to the table.

Anonymous said...

Ellie Yates of Ridgeland, Mississippi just chose USC as the college of her choice. Nice to see a renewed rivalry between two Southern girls, Kaitlin Ray of UCLA and Ellie of USC.