DEKALB, Ill. – Northern Illinois University women's tennis head coach Eric Burns added three players for 2021-22 when he announced his second signing class at NIU.
 
The class includes one international player, a former player of Burns' and sister of a current Huskie gymnast. Erika Dimitriev (Toronto, Ontario, Canada/ North Toronto Collegiate Institute), Angelica Ross (Painesville, Ohio/Painesville Riverside HS/Wright State) and Reagan Welch (Greenbrier, Tennessee/Aaron Academy) have signed letters of intent to continue their education and tennis careers at NIU.
 
"We are really excited about this class," Burns said. "This is a great class to keep the momentum going from our nationally ranked Mid-Major class from 2020.  Coach Natalie Sayer and I worked extremely hard to identify recruits who would be the right fit for our program. She was a huge part in this process and did a great job getting to know all of our recruits and selling NIU. It was truly a total team effort with this class.
 
 "Our goal was to identify great players and people who wanted to continue to improve their individual games and who wanted to be a part of turning this program into a championship contender in the MAC. Finally, with our recruiting, we wanted recruits who saw value in NIU and our athletic program. We know we have found this with this class. I believe all three of these ladies have great potential and huge upside to their games. Not only are all three of these student-athletes great tennis players, they are high achieving students and great people who will add high character to our program. They will be an integral part of our overall team success as we continue to build this program and work toward our goal of a MAC championship."
 
 
Erika Dimitriev (Toronto, Ontario, Canada/ North Toronto Collegiate Institute)
• UTR high of 9.78
• Canadian junior ranking high of No. 14.
• Ontario ranking high of No. 6.
• U16 Ontario Provincial Champion.  
• U16 Ontario National Selection Champion. 
• U16 Ontario National Selection Doubles Finalist.
• U16 Canadian National Championships Top 12. 
• U18 Ontario Provincial Championships Fourth Place. 
• U18 Ontario Provincial Championships Fifth Place. 
• U18 Ontario Provincial Doubles Finalist. 
• U18 Canadian National Championships Top 12. 
• Ontario High School Girls' Singles Champion.
• 4.0 GPA in high school.
• Plans to major is business at NIU.
• Coached by Tyler Prescott.
 
Burns on Dimitriev
"I'm so excited that Erika chose NIU. We had a lengthy recruiting process with her, and I would say we really battled to sell her on NIU and our tennis program. She had a lot of attention from other schools. I probably bugged her with more messages than I typically do in the recruiting process. I felt very strongly that she was a player that this program really needed, so I am ecstatic that she's coming. She comes from a very strong tennis scene in Toronto and most of the top players in Canada play in Ontario so she is battle tested against top players. We just like her game and feel it works well with what we like to do both in singles and doubles. In all of our calls with her, the team, Natalie and I were just really impressed with her personality and her positive attitude. I feel she is driven to improve her game and be the best she can be on and off the court. These are the players we need-those who want to keep building their games and are not satisfied with just getting to college tennis. We want people who want to take their games to another level. This is what we have gotten with Erika- someone who will work to be better. She has all the tools to be a great player for us."
 
Angelica Ross (Painesville, Ohio/Painesville Riverside HS/Wright State)
• Transfer from Wright State. Originally recruited by Eric Burns at Wright State – program was dropped.
• Rated a four-star recruit by TennisRecruiting.net with a national ranking high of 151 in the 2020 class and was No. 9 in Ohio.
• UTR high of 8.85.
• Four-time sectional champion.
• Third in District in 2019.
• Three-time OHSAA State qualifier.
• Biomedical engineering major.
 
Burns on Ross
"I'm really excited that Angelica decided to join us at NIU. I recruited her when I was at Wright State before I came to NIU. We were really excited about her. Unfortunately, Wright State cut their program in summer 2020 and we benefitted from this because Angelica is a top-notch person and tennis player. She is also an accomplished student. Before COVID shut down tennis, she was building momentum with her game and was ready for college tennis. She had a great first round match at the Ohio State tournament her senior year despite losing a tough match. It's unfortunate she's not getting a chance to play this year, but I know she will come in and work hard to get back up to speed. Angelica is another player who comes to us with a high ceiling. She is very talented and will only continue to grow in our program. I believe she can help us immediately in singles and especially doubles in our system. She has great hands at the net. I am excited to get her here and start working to see where her game can go."
 
Reagan Welch (Greenbrier, Tennessee/Aaron Academy)
• UTR high of 8.99.
• Rated a four-star recruit by Tennisrecruiting.net with a national ranking high of No. 132 in the 2021 class and No. 4 in Tennessee.
• USTA Southern section ranking high of No. 13 in 16s.
• Won the USTA Tennessee Qualifier for 16s.
• Finalist in doubles at 2019 USTA National Level 2 Chattanooga.
• Was a quarterfinalist at the 2019 Southern Closed in 2019.
• Competed in Zonals Team Championship for six consecutive years.
• Played for Tennessee in Southern Cup for four years.
• 4.0 GPA in high school.
• Majoring in Business.
• Sister Gabby is on the gymnastics team at NIU.
• Coached by Andy Veal.
 
Burns on Reagan
"Reagan was my first recruit when I arrived at NIU in Fall 2019. I was impressed with her from the beginning. Not only does she have a great game, she made it very clear that she wanted to be at NIU. Most of my best players in all my years of coaching have been those who are passionate about the school and the program. Reagan will bring great passion for NIU to this team. When she mentioned during her visit that she loved the weather in DeKalb, I knew we had the right person immediately. I believe she has a game that is not completely developed with lots of room to grow. This is really ideal for incoming players. You want people who have a high ceiling and Reagan is a player who will improve with tough training daily against top players. She has a great foundation to work with and has all the athletic ability to be a great player at NIU. I know she will work extremely hard to make this program successful. I'm very excited to work with her."
 
-NIU-