PROVIDENCE, RI -- Brown University head coach Felix Mercado has announced six members of his first women's recruiting class. The incoming freshmen - Bethany Kwoka, Samantha Ryu, Andrea "Misa" Scharfen, Emily Viggiano, Eliza Adams and Ina Perutovic - will have an opportunity to step in and contribute immediately.

"I'm very excited to have these players join our squad," Mercado said. "Beyond the obvious boost they will give us in depth, there are some talented players coming in that we expect will give us some contributions right away."

Kwoka and Ryu are both utility players from California. A graduate of San Mateo High, Kwoka was a four-time MVP of her team, and played her club polo for the Stanford Women's Water Polo Club. Ryu is a graduate of Cate School in Santa Barbara, where she was named First Team All-Tri-Valley League and her team's MVP this season.

Scharfen was the goalie for Ursuline High in Santa Rosa, Calif. She is a First Team All-League North Coast Section CIF honoree, and is a three-time scholar-athlete at Ursuline. A driver, Viggiano joins the Bears from Gunn High in Palo Alto, Calif. She was a 2006 Independence All-Tournament Award winner and a co-MVP in 2007.

Adams has played both as a goalie and as a utility player at Pingry School in New Jersey. The 6'2" Perutovic plays at two meters, and is graduating from Li Po Chun United World College high school in Hong Kong.

This spring, Brown finished the season ranked 20th in the nation after a fifth-place finish at the Eastern Championship and a second-place finish at the Northern Division Championship. The team went 16-15, and Mercado was named Northern Division Coach of the Year in his first season as a head coach of a collegiate varsity women's team.