CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Traci Green, The Sheila Kelly Palandjian Head Coach for Harvard Women's Tennis, announced today the Crimson's incoming Class of 2027. The highly regarded quartet will arrive on campus in the fall of 2023.
 
Joining Harvard will be the No. 6 recruiting class in the country, according to TennisRecruiting.net, and consists of Natalie Block (Plantation, Fla.), Kavya Karra (Princeton Junction, N.J.), Kate Kim (Joplin, Mo.) and Stephanie Yakoff (Fort Lee, N.J.).
 
TennisRecruiting.net lists Block, Kim and Yakoff as blue-chip players, with Karra earning five stars. The Crimson has now added seven blue-chip athletes since 2020, with the trio joining returners Sany Gawande (2020), Amy Huang (2020), Maxi Duncan (2021) and Charlotte Owensby (2022), who was the Ivy League and ITA Northeast Region Rookie of the Year this past season.
 
Below is a look at Harvard's Class of 2027:

Natalie Block (she/her/hers)

Plantation, Fla. (American Heritage School Plantation)
 
Blue-chip recruit on TennisRecruiting.net and was ranked as high as No. 12 nationally… Played on varsity from sixth through 12^th grade… Served as team captain and played at No. 1 her freshman through senior seasons… Named the Miami Herald Player of the Year in eighth and ninth grade… Selected the Sun Sentinel Broward Girls Tennis Player of the Year in seventh and eighth grade… Was a Broward All-County performer in singles and doubles as a freshman, junior and senior… Named American Heritage's team MVP as a junior… Won the team and doubles championships at the FHSAA Class 2A Florida State Championship in 2018-19, and took second in singles… Won the 2019 USTA Florida "Bobby Curtis" Sportsmanship Award… Won the 2018 USTA G14 Florida State Championship (doubles), 2018 USTA Florida "Bobby Curtis" G14 tournament (singles), 2018 USTA G14 National Hard Court Championship (doubles), 2019 USTA G16 Nationals (doubles), 2019 USTA G18 Florida "Bobby Curtis" tournament (doubles, mixed doubles), 2019 USTA G16 Winter Nationals (doubles), 2021 USTA G18 National Spring Championship (singles), 2021 USTA G16 National Easter Bowl Championship (doubles), 2021 USTA G18 Winter Nationals (doubles) and 2022 USTA G18 Clay Court Nationals (doubles)… Captured a silver ball at the 2018 USTA National Women's Open Clay Court (doubles), 2019 USTA G14 Easter Bowl (doubles), 2021 USTA Florida "Bobby Curtis" tournament and 2022 USTA G18 National Hard Court Championship (doubles)… Picked up a bronze ball at the 2019 USTA G14 National Clay Court Championship (doubles), 2021 USTA G16 National Easter Bowl Championship (singles)… Reached the semifinals of the 2022 ITF G1 Easter Bowl (doubles) and the quarterfinals of the 2022 US Open Junior Doubles Tournament… An Honor Roll student each quarter (freshman-senior)… Mom, Debra Lau '87, played tennis at Columbia… Father, Mark Block '83, rowed at Yale.

Kavya Karra

Princeton Junction, N.J. (West Windsor-Plainsboro High South)
 
Five-star recruit on TennisRecruiting.net and ranked as high as No. 33 nationally… Ranked No. 1 in the Middle States Section for the 12s, 14s, 16s and 18s… Earned varsity letters in tennis and basketball… Captured the 2019 Mercer County Tournament… Named third-team all-state… Crowned the 18s USTA L2 singles champion… Semifinalist at the 16s USTA Easter Bowl in doubles… Earned a spot on the Honor Roll all four years.

Kate Kim

Joplin, Mo. (Stanford Online High)
 
Blue-Chip Recruit on TennisRecruiting.net and ranked as high as No. 6 nationally… Reached No. 1 in the tennisRPI ranking in the fall of 2022… Two-time USTA Missouri Valley Player of the Year in 2017 and 2018… Crowned the G16 champion at the 2021 Orange Bowl International Championship and Eddie Herr International Championship… Reached the semifinal round at the 2021 USTA National Doubles Championship… Advanced to the round of 16 at the 2022 USTA Billie Jean King G18 National Championship.

Stephanie Yakoff

Fort Lee, N.J. (Fort Lee High)
 
Blue-Chip Recruit on TennisRecruiting.net and ranked as high as No. 5 for the 2023 graduating class… Earned four varsity letters, while competing at the No. 1 singles position… Served as team captain at Fort Lee as a senior… Ranked as high as No. 1 in singles and doubles in the U.S., Eastern section and New Jersey in the U-12, 14, 16 and 18 divisions… Competed in the WTA 1000 BNP Paribas Open… Won the 2019 Junior Orange Bowl and was a finalist in 2021… Earned a gold ball at 2017 Winter Nationals (singles, doubles), 2018 Easter Bowl (doubles), 2021 Clay Court Nationals (doubles) and 2021 National Indoors (doubles)… Captured a silver ball at the 2017 National Indoors (singles), 2018 Easter Bowl (singles), 2018 Nationals (doubles), 2019 Clay Court Nationals (singles), 2022 Easter Bowl (doubles) and 2022 National Indoors (doubles)… Secured a bronze ball at the 2017 Easter Bowl (doubles), 2017 National Hard Court event (singles), 2019 National Indoors (singles), 2019 Winter Nationals (singles) and 2021 Easter Bowl (doubles)… Singles champion at 2019 L2 National (Arlington, Texas)… 2021 ITA Fall Circuit Centercourt champion… Doubles champion at 2021 National L2 (Midlothian, Va.)… 2022 J4 ITF singles finalist… 2022 West Point National L2 singles and doubles champion… 2022 National L2 Girls singles and doubles champion (Rome, Ga.)… 2022 PTT 25K second playoff champion… Three-time Bergen County singles champion (2019-22)… New Jersey state champion (2019, 2021-22)… Four-time New Jersey Player of the Year (2019-22)… Two-time All-American (2021-22)… Named the Female Athlete of the Year twice (2019, 2022)… Four-time all-league, all-county and all-state (2019-22)… Named MVP four times (2019-22)… Became only the third player in New Jersey history to win the state title three times… Went undefeated all four years (63-0)… AP Scholar Award recipient in 2022… High Honor Roll all four years.