May 21, 2003

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara University women's tennis program will have 5-7 right-hander Kelly Leathers of Sacramento join the Bronco program, head coach Aby Ryan announced. Leathers will arrive on the Mission Campus this fall as a freshman and is the second of an anticipated three newcomers.

"Kelly will be a great addition to our team," Ryan said. "It's great to have a player representing Northern California on our team, as there's a lot of talent in this region. Kelly will be a hard worker on and off the court."

Leathers is ranked 13th in the USTA NorCal Girls 18 group and ranked in the top 200 nationally. Playing for Christian Brothers High School, she has earned Sacramento All-City and All-Sierra Valley Conference honors and was the league's individual champion this past season.

Leathers' father, Mike, played baseball at Stanford, while her uncle, Rick Rhodes, was a professional golfer. Leathers is involved with the National Honors Society and the California Scholarship Federation, while also having one of the top 15 GPAs in her senior class.

The Broncos finished their season in mid-April with a 10-10 record, and placed third at the West Coast Conference Championship, tying its highest finish ever, set during the 2002 season.