Clemson Women’s Lacrosse Flips Nation’s No. 1 Class of 2025 Recruit

Clemson has reportedly landed the biggest name in the Class of 2025 as a commit for women’s lacrosse.

April 1, 2023, Clemson, South Carolina, USA; Clemson Tigers head coach Allison Kwolek before the Pink Game on Senior Day against the Louisville Cardinals at Riggs Field. / Ken Ruinard - USA TODAY Sports

Inside Lacrosse’s No. 1 Class of 2025 player is Alexa Spallina, an attacker for Mount Sinai (N.Y.) and the LI Yellow Jackets.

Now, she’s heading for Clemson.

Spallina announced her commitment on Friday evening on social media, including Instagram. She was originally committed to Syracuse, one of the sport’s traditional destinations.

It represents a massive get for Clemson, which already had a commitment from the No. 2 player on Inside Lacrosse’s list, Emma Penczek, a midfielder from Manchester Valley High School in Maryland.

“I am extremely excited to announce my commitment to @clemsonwlax,” Spallina wrote on Instagram. “Thank you to all those who have supported me and coaches who stood by my side and helped guide me to make this decision! A special thank you to my parents and brothers, and especially id like to thank my dad who supported me through this! Let’s make history 👏🐅🧡💜#allin #t-town #tigers”

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The Tigers have been building in the background, including a Class of 2023 that was ranked No. 4 by Inside Lacrosse and included Natalie Shurtleff, Regan and Blair Byrne, Jazzy Stanton, Kayla Macleod and Camryn Pfundstein.

In November the Tigers signed another large class, including Gigi Adamson, Carly Wise, Jane Hilsabeck, Susan Lowther, Brooke Goldstein, Kira Balis, Maddie Wrenn and Natalie Kranick. Two are among the Top 50 in the country per Inside Lacrosse.

Clemson also announced the signing of five graduate transfers in May, including Bridget Babcock (Cornell), Lexi Edmonds (Penn), Maggie Jordan (Richmond), Lindsey Marshall (Townson), and Bryce Pfundstein (Ohio State).

The women’s lacrosse team is coming off an 11-7 season for 2023-24, which included a 3-7 record in ACC action. The Tigers, who were nationally ranked for a good portion of the season, beat Pitt at home in the first round of the ACC Tournament before they moved to Charlotte and lost to Notre Dame in the quarterfinals.

Sophomore defender Paris Masaracchia and junior goalie Emily Lamparter represented the Tigers on the All-ACC Second team. Meanwhile, Regan Byrne, Macleod and Shurtleff represented the Tigers on the All-Freshman team.

Head coach Allison Kwolek was hired to start the program before the 2022-23 season and turned the Tigers into a nationally ranked team for nine weeks while going 12-5 overall and finishing sixth in ACC action.

Before taking over Clemson, Kwolek spent nine years as the head coach at Richmond, where the Spiders went 101 matches and led them to two NCAA Tournaments.