CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia head coach Sara O’Leary announced the addition of four student-athletes to the 2026-27 roster.
Mara Gae, Alyssa James and Shannon Lam will enroll at the University in the fall of 2026 and join the team as freshmen. Eugenia Zozaya is a sophomore, transferring to the University after spending one year at Southern California.
"We are thrilled to welcome our incoming class to the University of Virginia,” said head coach Sara O’Leary. “Bringing both elite tennis experience and a passion for our program, Alyssa, Shannon, Mara, and Eugenia exemplify the character, work ethic, and love for this university that we seek in every recruit. We can’t wait to watch them grow as players, teammates, and students, and we’re excited for the energy, talent, and leadership they will bring to our program both on and off the court.”
Mara Gae of Bucharest, Romania, reached a career-high ITF World Juniors ranking of No. 24 in June 2023. She was the 2023 Junior US Open Doubles Champion, partnering with Anastasiia Gureva and also played in the Junior French Open and Junior Wimbledon that year. She made two J300 singles semifinals, finishing as the runner-up in Casablanca. On the ITF Women’s Circuit, she won the singles title in 2025 in her home W15 tournament in Bucharest and has tallied five W15 doubles titles. She has a career-best WTA World Doubles ranking of 512 and singles ranking of 788.
Alyssa James, a native of Jamaica, is ranked as the No. 4 overall recruit in the Class of 2026. Ranked as high as No. 42 in the ITF World Junior Rankings, she is the No. 1 player in the COTECC (Central American and Caribbean) region. She has won four junior singles titles and seven junior doubles titles, including this year’s Banana Bowl J500 tournament in Brazil. She reached the quarterfinals in doubles and also competed in singles. The Blue Chip and Five Star recruit was selected to participate in the ITF Grand Slam Player Development Program (GSPDP) South American Touring Team, an initiative designed to support top players from developing tennis nations through access to elite competition and high-performance coaching. She attended Laurel Springs School while training at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in Florida.
Shannon Lam of East Brunswick, N.J., reached a career-high ITA World Juniors ranking of No. 46 in January 2025. The Blue Chip and Five Star recruit was ranked as high as No. 3 overall in her recruiting class. She won a combined four ITF Juniors singles and doubles titles, including winning the singles draw at the 2024 Coffee Bowl in San Jose, Costa Rica. She played in three-straight Junior US Opens, making the Round of 16 in both 2023 and 2024. She has also played in the Junior Australian Open and Junior Wimbledon. She studied at and was a member of the Dwight Global Tennis Travel Team. She won her first ITF W15 singles title in May in Monzon, Spain. She has a 12-5 record in professional matches and has moved up to a WTA World Ranking of No. 705 in singles.
Eugenia Zozaya of Oviedo, Spain, played her freshman year at Southern California, with a 31-6 overall singles record (20-3 in dual matches), playing on courts 2-4. She was ranked as high as No. 55 in the ITA Singles Rankings. She came to the Trojans having been ranked as high as No. 71 in the ITF World Junior Rankings, playing in the 2025 Junior Wimbledon and Junior US Open with a combined four ITF Juniors doubles and singles titles.