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| Delaware volleyball team signs six recruits |
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3:30 p.m., May 14, 2003--Bonnie Kenny, University of Delaware women's volleyball head coach, has announced that six student-athletes have signed NCAA National Letters of Intent to compete as Fightin’ Blue Hens.
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| Bonnie Kenny |
The recruits are outside hitter and libero Claire McCormack from Downers Grove, Ill.; middle hitter Kristine Gneiss from Floral Park, N.Y.; middle hitter Colleen Carey from Palo Alto, Calif.; middle hitter Dana Olmstead from Wilmington; outsider hitter and libero Heather Ranck from Chambersburg, Pa.; and setter Jocelyn Greenwald from Old Tappan, N, J.
“With the addition of these six student athletes, our program will be provided with the depth we need at this level to train,” Kenny, who is in her second season as head coach, said. “It will give us the competitiveness we need in the gym so that every position will be challenged. Several players from this group could have an immediate impact on the team, and six are eager to develop and contribute.”
McCormack, a 5-9 outside hitter and libero (defensive specialist), led Downers Grove High School to a 36-4 record and the 2002 Class AA state championship last fall. She is a two-time All-Area and All-Conference selection and in 2002 was named an All-American by the Amateur Athletics Union (AAU). She played for the Club Elite 18 Rock team, which qualified for the Junior Olympics tournament in Atlanta.
Gneiss, a 6-1 middle and outside hitter, has played club volleyball for the Creole Big Apple Volleyball Club under the direction of coach Merlin Thompson. She was a standout in volleyball and basketball at Floral Park High School and was her team's Most Valuable Player in volleyball each of the last three seasons. She also earned the school's Scholar-Athlete Award and is a member of the National Honor Society. She plans to major in biology at Delaware.
Carey, a 6-0 middle and right side hitter, played club volleyball for the Golden Bear Volleyball Club. At Palo Alto High School, she earned first team All-league honors and earned her team's Coaches Award. She will enter Delaware's liberal studies program and hopes to someday earn a medical degree.
Olmstead, a 6-0 middle hitter, was a standout at St. Elizabeth High School, leading the Vikings to a second-place finish in the 2002 state finals and a 40-6 record over the last two seasons. She earned first team All-State honors each of the last two seasons, was a three-time All-Catholic Conference selection and this past fall was Delaware's Gatorade Player of the Year. She earned the Loretta Ianni Leadership Award, is a Delaware State Scholar, and was vice president of the St. Elizabeth chapter of the National Honor Society. The daughter of two University of Delaware graduates, she plans to major in biomedical engineering.
Ranck, a 5-9 outside hitter and libero, was a four-year starter at Chambersburg High School and was named Most Valuable Player for the Mid-Penn Conference this past fall. A Pennsylvania State Scholar-Athlete, she served as captain of her high school team each of the past two seasons and earned All-State and All-District honors as a senior. Ranck also was a standout soccer player at Chambersburg High. She played club volleyball for Mizuno Yorktowne and will compete in the East Coast Championships at Penn State later this month. She plans to major in exercise science at Delaware.
Greenwald, a 5-8 setter, was a three-time All-State selection at Northern Valley Regional High School and was named the 2002 New Jersey State Player of the Year. She led Northern Valley Regional to a No. 2 ranking in the state and berth in the state championship game. She qualified and competed at the Junior Olympics the past two years as a member of her club team, Cut Shot. She plans to pursue a degree in exercise science at Delaware.
Kenny, who will enter her 20th season as a college head coach needing just one win to reach 350 for her career, will lead the Blue Hens into their season opener Aug. 29-30 at the College of Charleston Tournament in South Carolina.
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