Following one of the most successful seasons in school history, the University of Kentucky volleyball program continues to gain national recognition. The 2006 signing class for second-year head coach Craig Skinner has been ranked 26th in the nation by PrepVolleyball.com.
This year’s class consists of Heather Hausfeld (Cincinnati, Ohio), Natalie Marsh (Cincinnati, Ohio), Sarah Rumely (Indianapolis, Ind.), BriAnne Sauer (Louisville, Ky.) and Ohio State transfer Nicole Britenriker.
?Robby Pulliza, our recruiting coordinator, along with assistant coach Jenae Dowling, continue to do a great job of raising the bar in this area of our program,? said Skinner. ?This is nice recognition for our program and it shows we are headed in the right direction. The most important thing about these rankings is not where we start, but where we finish when these athlete?s careers are over.?
Hausfeld is a 6-1 middle blocker who has been a three-year starter at St. Bernard Roger Bacon High School which won back-to-back Division II state titles. Hausfeld had a team-high 20 kills in the championship game as Roger Beacon defeated Walsh Jesuit to improve to 29-0 on the year and win their second state title in as many years. Her club team, Team Z, finished third at nationals last year.
Marsh is a 6-0 middle blocker who was ranked one of the top 100 recruits in the Class of 2006 by PrepVolleyball.com. She has been a four-year starter and ended her career at Walnut Hills High School as the all-time kills leader. She has been named the FAVC Conference Player of the Year and was a first-team All-Conference selection last season. Marsh was named also Player of the Year in the all-city vote by the coaches and earned first-team All-State recognition.
Rumley is a 5-11 setter who has also been ranked among the top 100 recruits by PrepVollyball.com. The four-year starter was named first-team All-State and led her Scecina Memorial High School team to a sectional championship in 2006. Rumley was named the All-East Player of the Year and most valuable player of her high school squad as a junior, an honor she earned again this season.
Sauer is an All-State libero from Louisville?s Mercy Academy. She was named one of PrepVolleyball.com?s Top 100 Defensive Players in 2005. Sauer helped her club teams to three AAU National Championships and two runner-up titles. She was named an AAU All-American in 2003 and her squad won the Junior Olympic National Championship last summer, a title they also took home in 2001.
Britenriker is a 5-11 middle blocker who joins the Wildcats after spending the 2005 season at Ohio State. The Ohio native played in 31 matches for the Buckeyes in 2005, earning 26 starts. She ranked seventh in the Big Ten in hitting percentage with a .330 mark and tallied a career-best 18 kills against Illinois. Britenriker also hit a career-best .625 vs. Marshall during the year and had 25 digs at Indiana, also a personal high.
The 2006 volleyball team kicks off its season on August 29 when they host Western Kentucky at Memorial Coliseum.
