Nov. 16, 1999
NOTRE DAME, Ind. -- Caylan Leslie and Alicia Salas, two nationally ranked junior players, have signed national letters of intent to attend Notre Dame, women's tennis head coach Jay Louderback announced Monday.
"We are very excited with the addition of Caylan and Alicia," said Louderback, the 1999 BIG EAST Conference coach of the year. "We feel like both will have a chance to make an immediate impact on the program. Caylan is one of the top players coming out of the juniors. She has a very good lefty forehand that will be a big weapon and will be good for our other players in practice. Alicia plays a solid all-court game and is not afraid to come to the net and volley. She will be a very good doubles player for us also."
Leslie, a native of Newport Beach, Calif., brings a wealth of experience to Notre Dame with a United States Tennis Association national girls' 18s ranking of 19. She currently is a senior at Corona del Mar High School, the same high school as Irish sophomore Nina Vaughan. Leslie will enter Notre Dame just after the graduation of current senior Sarah Scaringe, the only left-handed player on the team.
Salas, a native of Engelwood, Colo., hails from Cherry Creek High School, a perennial tennis power in Colorado, and is ranked 76th in USTA national rankings. She enters her senior year having won three state singles titles and will be looking for her fourth in the spring. Only current Irish sophomore Becky Varnum, from Colorado Springs, Colo., won four Colorado High School singles titles.
