KINGSTON, R.I. - Rhode Island's incoming women's tennis recruiting class has been ranked No. 17 among the 2026 Mid-Major programs nationally, according to tennisrecruiting.net.

URI head coach Jonas Brobeck has a pair of international freshmen joining the program for the 2026-27 season. Ellen Katzer is coming to the Rams from the Czech Republic, while Iben Mol is arriving from Finland. Brobeck also landed a key graduate student transfer in Adva Dabah from Drexel. The Mazliah, Israel native was an All-CAA Second Team selection for the Dragons last season.

Katzer has a Universal Tennis Rating of 9.48, which ranked 14th among the 67 players profiled by tennisrecruiting.net. That was the highest UTR rating among any Atlantic 10 recruits on the list, edging Richmond's Marta Ferrer Sole, who's UTR is 9.38.

In World Tennis Number rankings, Katzer has a 21.9. Mol - who has a UTR of 9.11 - scores a 20.8 in the current WTN ratings. The tandem of Katzer and Mol gave Rhode Island the second-highest rated recruiting class in the A-10. Only Richmond at No. 11 ranked higher on the top 25 among mid-major programs.

"We are very excited to sign two such talented freshmen in Ellen and Iben for the fall," Brobeck said. "They are both great tennis players, but more importantly, they are great people that want to work hard, develop, and help this team to new heights. They both bring a wealth of experience which will serve them in getting used to collegiate tennis and contribute to our lineup from Day One."

Dabah blossomed this season at Drexel. Playing primarily at No. 3 singles, she won 9-8 overall. She also was part of the Dragons' top doubles tandem, going 9-8 in the No. 1 doubles slot. She made her presence felt against Rhode Island during the Spring. When Rhody defeated Drexel 4-2 on March 29, Dabah picked up victories at No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles to account for both of the team's points.

"With two incoming freshmen, we wanted to add a player with experience and leadership qualities which is exactly what Adva brings to our team," Brobeck said. "She is a wonderful person who competes really well on the tennis court and brings all the qualities of a great team player."

The trio of incoming players join a Rhode Island roster that returns four of its top six singles players from the 2025-26 season. Rising junior Grace Darcy was an All-Atlantic 10 Second Team honoree and an A-10 Performer of the Week last season. She picked up 10 singles wins while playing in each of the top three slots in the lineup. Darcy played the final four matches of the season at No. 1 for the Rams.

Rising sophomore Kajsa Kelgesen tied for the team lead with 14 singles wins. She split her time between No. 4 (5-6) and No. 5 (6-2) in singles play while also pairing with Nikki Fernando at No. 1 doubles and posting a mark of 19-12.

Rising junior Anastasia Pettersson also tied for the team lead in singles victories with 14. She played every spot from No. 3 through No. 6 last season in singles action. She also teamed with Darcy at No. 2 doubles to win 14 matches.

Rising sophomore Miruna Scarlet joined the team before the Spring semester last season. Playing mostly at No. 6 singles, she was 7-6 to bolster the lineup. Seniors Steph Hylton and Blake Rothchild - both of whom won four singles matches last season, also return for the Rams.

"We have a great group of returners that knows what it takes to take the next step as a program," Brobeck said. "We can't wait to have everyone back on campus again in the Fall and continue to build this team and culture."

Entering his fourth season at the helm, Brobeck has led Rhode Island to a record of 41-24 over the last three seasons. In the eight seasons before he took over, URI was a combined 45-98.

The Rams have won a postseason match in each of his first three years, and they have won 12 or more matches in each of the three seasons. Rhode Island won three A-10 tournament matches combined in the 12 seasons before he arrived. Before he arrived, the program had not recorded double-digit wins since going 12-8 in 2011-12.