BEAUMONT, Texas – Lamar University women's tennis bolstered its roster with the additions of Michelle Markovic (Venice, Italy), Emmeline Polevoi (Cologne, Germany), Elena Rodriguez (Sevilla, Spain) and Elena Rubio (Madrid, Spain) to National Letters of Intent announced LU head coach David Wong Tuesday evening.
 
The four additions come at the perfect time for the Red and White as they will be exhausting the eligibility of three top seniors at the end of the 2020 season.
 
"I'm very excited about this recruiting class," said LU head coach David Wong. "They're coming in and should be impact players for program right away. Rodriguez and Rubio are the highest ranked players we recruited from Spain and Polevoi is the second highest recruit from Germany since former standout Kaltrina Harbuzi Minick. She was the second most decorated player that we've had come through the program. Michelle Markovic plays at a very strong level in Italy. She plays with great energy on the court. We are very excited about the future of the program with the incoming class of recruits."
 
Rodriguez has climbed as high as 94 in the Spanish Open Rankings. She makes her way to the Golden Triangle coming off one of the biggest wins of her young career. She posted a straight-sets decision (6-4, 6-3) over Spain's 39^th ranked player, Maria Dolores Lopez.
 
She brings with her a long list of success in national tournaments including the individual title in the 2017 Master National Champions Bowl for the U15 division, as well as the overall title in the Marca National Circuit Tournament the following year. Rodriguez played on the Master Marca National Circuit in 2018 and was a finalist for the circuit advancing to the Regional Championships the year prior.
 
Rubio has recorded several championships during her Spanish junior career with titles in the 2018 Torneo Junior Encinas de Boadilla (2018), Master FTM Cadete – U16 (2018), Torneo Junior Caja Magica (2019) and Torneo Junior Spartans II Las Rozas (2019) and the Torneo Junior Alameda de Osuna (2019). She also just missed six other individual titles posting runner-up finishes at six other tournaments during that same time frame.
 
Much like her countrywoman, she makes her way to Beaumont after coming off one of the biggest victories of her young career – a three-set decision over Carmen Gallardo – who was ranked 37^th in Spain. Rubio has climbed has high as 116th in the Spanish Open Rankings. 
 
One of Germany's top junior players, Polevoi finished second in the Bundesliga – Regionalliga. She guided a junior squad that was ranked tops in the NRW. A former ITF quarterfinalist, Polevoi was named sportsman of the year at her school. She heads to Beaumont with a German open rank of 109^th in the country.
 
Markovic also brings with her some very strong credentials from Italy. A former regional champion, she finished second in the regional championships in Veneto at a very early age garnering recognition on the U12 circuit. Markovic recorded three individual titles while playing at the U12 level. Her talent continued to improve with her increased classification. She posted two runner-up finishes in 2017 and followed that up with a regional and Triveneto Championship with her team (Green Garden) the following year. They finished eighth in Italy's C division.