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Tennessee announced the signing of four players that will be eligible to play during the 2010 season.

The signees include Raven Chavanne of Newbury Park High School in Thousand Oaks, Calif., Lauren Gibson of Chesapeake High in Pasadena, Md., Melissa Brown of William S. Hart High in Valencia, Calif., and Ivy Renfroe of Trinity Christian Academy in Jackson, Tenn.

“We are excited about these four student-athletes joining our squad at the University of Tennessee,” Lady Vols co-head coach Ralph Weekly said. “They have all played at the highest level and have competed for championships on a regular basis. These four student-athletes reflect the type of character, integrity, athleticism and academic success that are cornerstones of the UT program.”

The 5-foot-8 Chavanne has excelled in track and set the school record in the 200-meter dash (24.90 seconds). Although Chavanne didn’t play softball in high school, she led the 16-U OC Batbusters batting leadoff and hitting (.583) during the summer of 2007 at the Amateur Softball Association Gold Nationals. This past summer she play for 18-U team.

The outfielder/third baseman chose UT over Arizona State, Michigan and California.

The 5-6 Gibson, a pitcher/infielder/outfielder, was Gatorade Player of the Year in Maryland and an ESPN All-American as Chesapeake won its second consecutive Class 4A state title. She was 17-2 with 165 strikeouts in 120 innings and a 1.23 ERA. She hit .500 with 34 runs scored, 29 RBIs and 16 stolen bases.

Gibson broke the Team New Jersey record for homers in a single season and led the 16-U Gold team in batting average, runs scored and stolen bases.

She picked Tennessee over a group of programs that included UCLA, Alabama and Oklahoma.

The 5-4 Brown, a slap-hitting middle infielder, hit .458 with 28 runs scored and 16 RBIs while going 13-for-13 on stolen bases.

She also plays summer ball for the 18-U So Cal Choppers.

Gibson also considered Washington, Cal State Fullerton and Pacific.

The 5-8 Renfroe has won more than 90 games and struck out more than 1,000 in four seasons to help Trinity Christian win consecutive state titles in 2007-08.

She was 20-4 with a 0.51 ERA and 261 strikeouts in 128 innings with eight no-hitters last season.

Renfroe’s other finalists were Oklahoma, Louisville and North Carolina State.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.