Louisville native and Mercy Academy senior BriAnne Sauer will join the Kentucky volleyball team as a libero for the 2006 season. Sauer, an All-State standout, helped Mercy to the 2005 KHSAA State Tournament semifinals, earning all-tournament team honors.

?We are excited about another standout from the state of Kentucky joining our program,? UK coach Craig Skinner said. ?BriAnne is an elite athlete with a great passion for volleyball and UK. She will add to our strength in the libero position for years to come.?

Sauer also was named to the KHSAA All-Tournament team in 2004, where Mercy Academy finished as the runner-up. The Jaguars also earned a third-place finish in the state in 2003. Sauer?s teams at Mercy won the District and Region titles in 2003, 2004 and 2005 and she was an All-District and All-Region selection in each of those years. Sauer played both setter and libero in high school.

Sauer is currently playing her final season of club volleyball for the Kentucky-Indiana Volleyball Association (KIVA), where she was named All-America by PrepVolleyball.com in 2005. She also was named one of PrepVolleyball.com?s Top 100 Defensive Players in 2005. During her club days, she?s helped her teams to three AAU National Championships (2001, 2003, 2005) and two runner-up titles (2002, 2004). Sauer was named an AAU All-American in 2003. This past summer, her squad also won the Junior Olympic National Championship, a title they also took home in 2001.

Last October, Sauer was a member of a select group of players from KIVA to travel to Moscow, Russia to compete in an international volleyball tournament. Her squad was the only team from the United States to compete in the tournament and finished in second place to a Russian team. Sauer was named the top defensive player for the event.

Sauer also was active in track during high school, earning three varsity letters before hanging up her cleats this season. She was named a seven-time city champion in the Catholic school track and field meets. Last June, Sauer was a member of the 3,200-meter relay team which finished seventh at the state meet.

An accomplished student, Sauer is a member of the National Honor Society, the Spanish Honor Society, the Principal?s List for four years, the All-American Scholar Program and the National Honor Roll. In addition, Sauer has had perfect attendance for 12 years.