RUSTON - With only two players lost to graduation off a Louisiana Tech soccer team that experienced its most successful season in program history, head coach Kevin Sherry is not rebuilding but reloading with the signing of seven student-athletes to the 2015 recruiting class.

Among the seven players signing National Letters of Intent to play for LA Tech are three transfers and four via the high school level.

"Conference USA is a very strong soccer conference and this has presented us with many challenges in our first two seasons in the league," Sherry said. "This recruiting class represents our response to meet those challenges. I am very happy and excited to bring in this recruiting class.

"Overall this class brings in good dribblers of the ball who can take players one-on-one, better athleticism in the back line, more left-sided options to give the team a better balance, more power in the central midfield and players who will score goals."

The Lady Techsters proved last season that they belong in C-USA, going from being picked 12th in preseason to qualifying for their first ever C-USA Tournament and having won its first ever postseason match to finish in the top four.

As important as it is for the signees to have talent, coach Sherry also expects them to be coachable and appreciate the culture of the LA Tech soccer program.

"The personality and maturity of our recruits is always an important aspect," Sherry said. "These young ladies in this recruiting class are grounded, hard-working, coachable and intrinsically motivated and I cannot wait to start working with them."

The signing class is spread out in regards to position with their being two forwards, three midfielders and two defenders.

The first striker is Kaitlyn Cunningham, a top local talent from Stonewall, Louisiana. She currently plays for North DeSoto High School and leads the entire city of Shreveport in scoring. Last season she was a Shreveport Times all-area section and was named to the Division II first team all-district.

"Katie has two main attributes which we can use - she has speed and a great willingness to learn," Sherry said. "We always try and recruit from Louisiana when we can, and we are very happy to bring in the best player from north Louisiana for 2015 with the recruitment of Katie. She will use her speed to play on the shoulder of the last defender and looks to get in behind defenses."

The other forward to this year's class is transfer Mylene Roy-Ouellet who hails from Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec, Canada. She is a physically strong target striker who is a natural finisher. She was twice named league player of the year and striker of the year.

"Mylene has both the pace and aggression to compete against the most physical of defenses and can be relied upon to score from both inside and outside of the box whenever the opportunity presents itself," Sherry said. "She is a very hard worker who never gives the opposing defenders any peace. Her hustle and work ethic is well-suited to C-USA play."

Starting in the midfield, Moriah Phillips transfers to LA Tech after playing at Tyler Junior College where she was named to the second team NJCAA All-American squad. Last season, she led the team in games played and games started en route to a 16-2-1 record, a No. 3 national ranking and an appearance in the Region XIV championship.

"Moriah is a natural leader and a very dynamic midfield player who will give the team some much needed strength, athleticism and drive," Sherry said. "She is a very intelligent player with two years of junior college soccer experience and will give us a spark with her ability to break play up with tough tackling, winning headers and turning interceptions into forward drives with either a dribble or a pass."

More depth at midfield will come from Austin, Texas native Emma Mele who lettered four years at John B Connally High School. She combined to register 75 goals and 50 assists her first three years and has earned first team all-region as a junior and two-time all-district midfield MVP.

"Emma is a right winger who has great close control and dribbling skills," Sherry said. "She gives us the option of playing with wide wingers to provide crosses into the penalty area if and when needed. Having her will give our offense another dimension in trying to get past defenders with dribbling skills."

Another midfielder who also has the versatility to be a striker is Mariah Rojas from Yakima, Washington. She has been part of back-to-back state cup championships at East Valley High School. As a senior, she scored 32 goals and was the second leading scorer in the Central Washington Athletic Conference (CWAC) while being named the offensive MVP of the league.

"Mariah has an eye for goal and is another natural goal scorer which this squad needs," Sherry said. "She is a very technical player who has good energy and a high soccer IQ due to the environment she grew up in. Her creativity and skill will be important in the final third of the field for us."

Providing more athleticism to the defense will be Kendall Ayers who is a junior college transfer from Cisco College in Cisco, Texas. Ayers was part of the 2013 and 2014 conference champions, combining for 12 goals and 15 assists for the Wranglers. She was named to the 2013 NSCAA all-west region team.

"Kendall is a quick and physical left-sided defender who likes to get forward and has good dribbling skills," Sherry said. "She is very good in the air and is a tough competitor who possesses a sweet left foot. She will give the team more balance and options on the left side and will be a key player at set plays."

The final piece of the recruiting class is defender Makenna Johnson, a three-year letter winner at Flower Mound High School in Flower Mound, Texas. Johnson's team was bi-district champions in 2013-14. On the club level, she has been a member of FC Dallas ECNL for the past three years.

"Makenna is a defender who possesses athleticism, power, speed and is a good reader of the game, all qualities which will strengthen our defensive line immensely," Sherry said. "She is a first class passer of the ball from the back which will give our team a solid base of possession to build upon and she will also look to get forward at every opportunity to supplement our offensive play."

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