Texas Tech secures talented transfers from Clemson, Miami, Virginia

LUBBOCK, Texas – Looking to bolster its roster ahead of the 2025 season, Texas Tech Soccer has added three incoming transfers in Eleanor Hays (Clemson), Emilie McCartney (Miami) and Chloe Japic (Virginia), head coach Tom Stone announced.

“We were fortunate to be able to add three players of the caliber of Eleanor, Emillie and Chole from the May portal,” Stone said. “All three are all wonderful players, with extraordinary character and are great students. They fit our team dynamic and system of play nicely and are ready now to compete in the Big 12 and nationally.”

The Red Raiders first addition, Hayes, joins Tech after spending a pair of seasons at Clemson. A native of Lewisville, Hays played in 15 matches in 2024, making eight starts. Known as a strong box-to-box defender, Hayes tallied one assist and four shots in her 738 minutes of action.

A member of the Tigers 2023 NCAA College Cup Team, Hays assumed a key role for the Tigers in 2024, making the 15 appearances and eight starts including her first career start in the season opener against Auburn. Hayes started the final six matches of the season for the Tigers.

The Red Raiders next addition, McCartney, also hails from Texas. A transfer from the University of Miami, McCartney played in 33 matches and made 31 starts for the Hurricanes including starting all 17 matches in 2024 for the Hurricanes.

Logging over 1500 minutes of action in 2024, McCartney played all 90 minutes in all 17 matches a season ago and has recorded a full 90-minute effort in 25 of her career 33 matches played. In 2023, McCartney started the final 14 matches in-a-row, meaning she concluded her Miami career having started 31 straight matches.

Tech’s third and final addition of the summer portal season, Japic, is no stranger to the Big 12 Conference having spent two seasons at Baylor before transferring to Virginia for the last three seasons.

A veteran of 71 career matches and 34 starts, Japic arrives at Tech having scored four career goals including a pair of goals in just six matches played in 2021. A 2020 Big 12 All-Freshman team selection, Japic made 52 appearances and 16 starts for the Cavaliers during her three years, tallying a goal and two assists in nearly 2200 minutes played.

In addition to her five years of Power Conference soccer experience, Japic also has extensive experience at the youth international level having played for the Bosnia and Herzegovina U15, U17 and U19 National teams throughout her career.

All three student-athletes will enroll at Tech for the Summer session later this month and will join the team ahead of preseason workouts in July.