The Minnesota women's tennis program announced today the signing of Minnetonka High School senior and two-time Minnesota State Class AA singles champion Aria Lambert.

Lambert, who went undefeated as a sophomore and junior in high school en route to consecutive state titles, elected not to play high school tennis her senior year so she could prepare for college tennis. She never lost a set her junior year and closed her season with a 6-3, 6-3 win at the state championship held at Minnesota's Baseline Tennis Center.

"It's always our goal to sign the best player in the state of Minnesota, and Aria clearly holds that distinction," said Minnesota coach Tyler Thomson. "We're excited, however, not simply because she's a Minnesotan but because we believe she'll have a great career. She's had very good coaching during her junior career with David Stearns, Justin Jennings and Jenna Kuhlman, and she's dedicated herself to preparing for college tennis. Aria's greatest strengths are two of the most important elements for success in tennis - consistency and competitiveness, and with that foundation I'm confident that she'll improve dramatically during her time at Minnesota."

Lambert is a five-start recruit according to tennisrecruiting.net and has been ranked as high as No. 44 in the nation's 2011 recruiting class. The right-handed Lambert was 17-0 at No. 1 singles as a freshman at Minnetonka in 2007 before finishing second at the state tournament.