MOREHEAD, Ky. – Morehead State head volleyball coach Jaime Gordon has announced that three high school seniors have signed national letters of intent to join the Eagles for the 2010 season. The newest Eagles are middle blocker Laura McDermott (Westfield Center, Ohio/Cloverleaf HS), defensive specialist Lindsey Roth (Louisville, Ky./Assumption HS), and libero Leslie Schellhaas (Edgewood, Ky./Notre Dame Academy).
“We are extremely excited about the 2010 recruiting class. It is made up of three dynamic young women that play this game with a lot of pride and passion. I am certain that our fans will enjoy watching the way each of them compete on the court and the manner in which they carry themselves off the court as well,” said Gordon.
McDermott is a 6-foot-1 middle blocker who set the Cloverleaf High School single season record for total blocks last season with 211. That figure also translated into the season record blocks per game at 3.01. On offense, McDermott also holds the school single season record for kills with 279 in 2008 and the single season mark for kills per game at 3.49 in 2009. She was named First-Team All-Suburban League and First-Team All-Gazette as a sophomore, junior and senior. Last season as a senior, she was named Honorable Mention All-Ohio and was on the All-American watch list. On the club level, her Ohio Elite team placed second in the nation last season.
“Laura is an extremely athletic individual who plays the game with a lot of conviction. We have a team right now with a strong blocking presence and Laura will add to that foundation. She touches over 10-2 and has a natural feel for blocking. Her speed and explosiveness will help her develop into a very strong middle for us,” said Gordon.
Roth, a 5-foot-7 defensive specialist, will join the Eagles after an illustrious career at Louisville’s Assumption High School. She will join former high school and club teammates Kirstie Brangers and Kaitlin Craven and have the opportunity to succeed current Eagle senior and former Assumption star libero Kristina Schoo. Roth compiled 261 digs as a senior as AHS and was an AAU All-American in 2005 and 2006 for the KIVA club program. She was on the 2009 American Volleyball Coaches Association Watch List and helped KIVA to a national runner-up status in 2004 and 2005. She helped lead the team to the JVDA national championship in 2009.
“Lindsey has such a versatile skill base and comes from a successful volleyball background. Last summer she led her team to a national championship as a setter, and with that experience she will bring a great offensive dimension to the defensive side of our team. She has extremely strong leadership skills and will help us a great deal in our transition game,” said Gordon.
Schellhaas is a 5-foot-3 libero from Notre Dame Academy in Northern Kentucky. She will join former teammate and current Eagle setter Caitlin Clark next season. Schellhaas set a school record with 350 digs as a junior and then bettered that mark as a senior with more than 400 digs. She helped her team win the district and region titles in 2007, 2008 and 2009 and led the squad to the state tournament semifinals in 2008 and 2009. In 2007, Notre Dame was the state runner-up. She was named to the KVCA Second-Team All-State squad as a junior and to the First-Team as a senior. She was also the region Player of the Year in 2009. On the club level, she competed with the nationally ranked NKYVC Tsunami program. In 2007, she was named Second-Team Defensive Dandies by prepvolleyball.com and was named a top 100 recruit by the web site in 2009.
“I believe that Leslie is one of the top defensive players in the country coming out of high school. Her quickness, feel for the ball, and enthusiastic play is exciting to watch, and I can’t wait to get her into uniform. She has a great positive attitude and tremendous work ethic that fits so well with the players that we currently have in the program,” said Gordon.
With a majority of the roster slated to return in 2010 and with Schoo departing as the Eagles’ all-time career dig leader, Gordon feels confident in this class to continue the Eagles’ defensive prowess in the OVC and on the national scene.
“We have an outstanding defensive tradition here at MSU, and I think this recruiting class is going to build on that in the upcoming years,” he said.
