FARMVILLE, Va. — Longwood director of tennis Charlotte Clarke announced the addition of five women's tennis signees on Wednesday.
Joining the Lancers for the 2026-27 season are transfers Farah Asaad, Maddie Fowler, Asta Miettinen and Asem Shoybek as well as freshman Ally Hopkins.
"After a successful 2025-26 season, I am excited to welcome a wealth of new talent to Longwood women's tennis," Clarke said. "We welcome two graduate students, Asem Shoybek and Maddie Fowler, alongside two undergraduate transfers, Asta Miettinen and Farah Asaad. All of these young women are hungry for success and excited to compete for championships. We also are thrilled to add Ally Hopkins, our freshman from the Richmond area to the group. Ally will add a fresh perspective and energy to the team and we are excited to see her develop.
"The experience of the incoming class combined with the solid core of returners, most of whom had undefeated conference records, will allow us to continue to make history for our program."
Farah Asaad
Sophomore
5-7
Cairo, Egypt/Al Bashaer International School/North Alabama
Asaad played 2025-26 season at NCAA Division I North Alabama in Florence. She went 3-3 in singles and 10-9 in doubles, with a 7-5 mark at No. 1. North Alabama went 17-7 overall as a team and 1-2 in the Atlantic Sun Conference and advanced to championship match of UTR Sports NIT Championship in Rome, Ga.
Strong in the classroom, Asaad earned ITA Scholar-Athlete honors with the Lions.
Maddie Fowler
Graduate Student
5-4
Charlotte, N.C./Independence/NC State
Fowler played club tennis at NC State. The Wolfpark placed 24th in the nation her junior season in 2025 and 15th as a senior in 2026.
She was a four-year standout at Independence High School in Charlotte, N.C., from 2018-21. Fowler played No. 1 singles all four seasons, and was a three-time 4A state quarterfinalist.
She was also named all-conference, all-region, the league player of the year, MVP and team captain in 2020 and 2021. Played to a 15-5 record in singles as a junior and was 11-4 as a senior.
Asta Miettinen
Junior
5-11
Turku, Finland/Kerttulin Lukio/Lamar
Miettinen played Played two seasons of Division I tennis at Lamar of the Southland Conference. She went 4-11 in singles and 6-12 in doubles as a freshman, Following it with an 8-7 mark in singles while going 7-8 in doubles as a sophomore.
Miettinen was named an ITA Scholar-Athlete in 2026 with the Cardinals.
She climbed as high as No. 14 nationally in Finland in singles competition and was top-10 ranked in doubles. She finished as high as No. 3 on the Finnish Junior Tour, and No. 8 in the Finnish junior rankings.
Miettinen also won several ITF doubles titles during her junior career.
Asem Shoybek
Senior
5-9
Taraz, Kazakhstan/Academy of Sport and Tourism/Idaho State
Shoybek played three seasons of Division I tennis at Idaho State in the Big Sky Conference and was named All-Big Sky Second Team in doubles in 2024 as a freshman.
She was 6-8 overall record in singles play as a junior in 2026, going 4-3 in Big Sky matches. She posted a 9-3 overall record in doubles play and was 5-10 overall singles record as a sophomore in 2025. Shoybek compiled a 3-7 mark in the No. 1 singles spot and was 2-2 in No. 2 singles matches.
She was also named to the 2023 Big Sky Spring All-Academic Team.
Ally Hopkins
Freshman
5-10
Henrico, Va./Mills E. Godwin
Hopkins played four years of varsity tennis for Mills E. Godwin High School. She was a two-time team MVP and team captain from 2025-26.
She was a doubles regional runner up in 2026, while the team was regional runner up in 2026, as well.
