EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. — SIUE women's tennis has announced two additions to the program's 2025 recruiting class. Aliya Rector (Lee's Summit, Missouri) and Mya Bowe (San Antonio, Texas) have signed to join the team.

"I am really excited that both Aliya and Mya chose to become Cougars," said Head Coach Adam Albertsen. "Both are great players and really good people, who will fit in with our Cougar family perfectly. Their strong tournament backgrounds filled with winning experience will make our team stronger and help continue to push for growth and success."

Rector competes for Lee's Summit West High School. During her junior career, Rector was a Missouri state doubles champion and ranked as the No. 2 player in the state by TennisRecruiting.net. The three-star athlete has been ranked as high No. 150 for her class in 2025. Off the courts, Rector is a member of the National Chinese Honor Society and DECA.

From Rector: "I chose SIUE because I thought it was a great fit for me along with the fact that I believe I can grow as a person and a tennis player here. I really liked the team as well as Coach Albertsen and thought they were all very friendly and welcoming. I am super excited to be a part of a great team in terms of level of tennis as well as the character of all the people. I am excited that hopefully next year as a team we can win another conference championship!"

Bowe competes for James Madison High School. She placed third in the Texas 6A High School State Championships along with taking third place in the Texas Slam L3 twice. She is a four-star athlete who has been ranked as high as No. 142 for the 2025 class by TennisRecruiting.net. Bowe is currently ranked 16th in Texas. She is a member of the National Honor Society.

From Bowe: "I chose SIUE to improve my tennis and further my academics because of the overwhelming positive environment that I felt from the team and academic support system on my visit. I can see this positive environment helping me grow as a person, student and athlete as I spend more time at SIUE. The entire tennis team is clearly extremely motivated to improve and accomplish goals for themselves and the team. This selfless hard work is contagious, and I hope to benefit from it greatly while also pushing my teammates to do the same."

The Cougars open up the spring season by playing host to Illinois-Springfield on Saturday, January 18th at the Edwardsville YMCA Meyer Center.