DeLand, Fla. ? Head Coach Pierre Pilote is proud to announce the signing of Maksim Levanovich to a National Letter of Intent to join the Stetson men's tennis program this fall. Levanovich, a native of Minsk, Belarus, is his country's second-ranked player under the age of 18 and is currently ranked #209 in the world U-18 rankings by the International Tennis Federation.
Levanovich will come to Stetson as the highest-ranked international recruit in program history. 2007 Atlantic Sun Player of the Year and 2008 First Team All-Atlantic Sun honoree Hicham Laalej (Meknes, Morocco) previously held that title at #297 when he arrived on campus in August 2006.
The 6'4” Levanovich was once ranked 38th in the ETA/Tennis Europe Under-16 group and brings an impressive athletic resume with him to the United States. He has won a national Belarusian outdoor championship in U-16 doubles and was the runner-up in singles at the same event as well as the third-place finisher at the indoor championships. An excellent doubles player, Levanovich has twice placed in the top three at the open Belarus national championships and in 2008 added a quarterfinal appearance in singles to go with making the doubles final.
Twice a member of the Belarusian U-16 squad that competed in the European Championships, Levanovich has a host of top finishes at major international events. These include a Grade 2 title at the 2006 Minsk Cup, a Grade 4 win at the 2007 AOTK Cup and a Grade 4 doubles championship at the 2007 Enri Open along with many other semifinal and quarterfinal appearances in singles and doubles competition.
“Maksim will be a great addition to our program for the 2008-09 season,” Pilote said. “When you lose your top three players, as we do, including two A-Sun Players of the Year, you need to replace them with excellent talent and Maksim is on that level. Maksim has an excellent power game that reminds me of Marcus Echtler (Stetson senior from Venice, Fla.) when he was a freshman.”
The son of Aleksey and Olga Levanovich has not yet decided on a major at Stetson. He will be joining a Hatters team that is currently ranked 56th in the nation, owns a 21-5 dual match record and three straight Atlantic Sun finals appearances. Stetson will learn Tuesday, April 29 whether it has received an at-large bid to what would be its first NCAA Tournament in school history.
