Empowered Volleyball Academy celebrated 18 graduating seniors who will compete at the college level starting next fall. Fifteen of the girls will play indoor volleyball while 3 will play beach volleyball. The young lady shared what Empowered has meant to them, and how it has helped them develop into college volleyball players.
Brooke Smith | University of Louisville | Leo High School
Smith signed her national letter of intent with the women's volleyball program the University of Louisville, an NCAA Division I program that plays in the Atlantic Coast Conference. An outside hitter, Smith scored 449 kills, 222 digs, 51 aces and 32 blocks this season. She was named honorable mention All-America by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, 1st team All-State and 1st team All-Northeast 8 Conference. She is undecided on a major, but has interest in the medical field.
Delaney Hogan | Xavier University | Bishop Dwenger High School
Hogan signed her national letter of intent with Xavier University, an NCAA Division I program that plays in the Big East Conference. Hogan, a middle hitter, had 307 kills, 56 blocks and 66 digs in her senior season with the Saints. She was tabbed All-Summit Athletic Conference.
Abby Plevin | University of Oregon | West Lafayette Harrison High School
Plevin, who played high school volleyball at Harrison High School in West Lafayette while playing club at Empowered in Fort Wayne, will play beach volleyball at the University of Oregon. The outside hitter/defensive specialist is a All-North Central Conference selection.
Ryan Rednour | Southern Illinois University | Leo High School
Rednour will play her college volleyball at the Southern Illinois University, an NCAA Division I school in the Missouri Valley Conference. The libero & outside hitter earned 2nd team All-State and 1st team All-NE8. This past season, she scored 354 digs, 24 assists and 55 aces. Rednour plays club volleyball at Empowered. She plans to study business.
Rachel McBride | Belmont University | Bellmont High School
McBride will head from Bellmont High School in Decatur, Indiana, to Belmont University, an NCAA Division I program in Nashville, Tennessee. McBride, a libero, led Bellmont to an IHSAA 3A state runner-up finish last fall; she earned the 3A Mental Attitude Award. She tallied 534 digs (4.5 per set) as a senior. She earned All-Northeast 8 honors.
Morgan Robrock | Huntington University | Huntington North High School
Morgan Robrock will play volleyball at Huntington University. As a senior, the setter and outside hitter had 406 assists, 172 kills, 46 aces and 40 blocks for the Lady Vikings. She earned All-Northeast 8 Conference honors.
Taylor Reust | University of Northwestern Ohio | Huntington North High School
Huntington North middle and outside hitter Taylor Reust is headed to the University of Northwestern Ohio, an NAIA school in Lima. Reust tallied 167 kills, 47 aces, 54 blocks and 98 digs as senior. She was named All-Northeast 8 Conference.
Carissa Beck | Union College | Snider High School
Beck signed her letter of intent with Union College women's volleyball, an NAIA program in Barbourville, Kentucky. Beck played outside hitter for the Lady Panthers, hitting 185 kills, 13 service aces 65 digs, 11 assists and 32 blocks; and she earned 2nd team All-Summit Athletic Conference honors. Beck played 3 seasons at Whitko before Snider, earning honorable mention All-Three Rivers Conference honors as a junior. She plays club volleyball at Empowered Volleyball Academy. She plans to study athletic training.
Jelena Girod | University of North Alabama | Bishop Luers High School
Girod, a setter for Bishop Luers, has signed on to play at the University of North Alabama, an NCAA Division I program that competes in the Atlantic Sun Conference. As a senior, Girod picked up All-Summit Athletic Conference honors with 432 assists, 50 aces and 181 digs.
Taylor Bransfield | Wright State University | Bishop Luers High School
Bransfield is heading to Wright State, an NCAA Division I school in Dayton, Ohio. The middle and outside hitter racked up 195 kills, 26 aces, 47 blocks and 87 digs. She was named to the All-Summit Athletic Conference team.
Kaley Lyons | Indiana University Kokomo | Bishop Dwenger High School
Lyons, a setter for the Saints cracked 1,000 assists in her senior season, finishing with 1,445 in her four years at Bishop Dwenger. She added 178 digs, 27 aces and 29 kills. She earned All-Summit Athletic Conference honors for her efforts. IU Kokomo competes in NAIA.
Nevaeh Shugart | Ferris State University | Leo High School
Shugart is joining the women's volleyball program at Ferris State University, an NCAA Division II school in Big Rapids, Michigan. Shugart played outside hitter and opposite side hitter with 230 kills, 33 digs and 17 blocks as a senior. She earned 1st team All-NE8 honors. She plans to study elementary education.
Maggie Castleman | Purdue University Fort Wayne | Heritage High School
Castleman signed her national letter of intent to play women's volleyball at Purdue University Fort Wayne, an NCAA Division I program. Castleman scored more than 1,200 kills for her career; and as a senior, she had 328 kills (4.1 per set), 286 digs, 35 aces, 34 assists and 25 blocks. She earned 1st team All-Allen County Athletic Conference honors the last two seasons, and was named MVP of the ACAC Tournament.
Reagan Denning | Erksine College | 5 years with Empowered Volleyball Academy
Denning hails from Hicksville, Ohio, and has played volleyball since she was a little girl. She played indoor volleyball at Hicksville High School through her sophomore year and and beach and indoor volleyball at Empowered for the last 5 years. In the last year, she’s focused entirely on beach volleyball and the recruiting process that has gone along with it. She plans to study pre-med biology.
Emily Wilcox | Eastern Illinois University | Homestead High School
Wilcox will join Eastern Illinois women's volleyball, an NCAA Division I program in the town of Charleston. Wilcox, a middle hitter, tallied 202 kills as senior. She added 62 blocks, 38 aces and 44 digs.
Brielle Schultz | Manchester University | Adams Central High School
Brielle Schulz is heading to Manchester University, an NCAA Division III program in North Manchester, Indiana. The Spartans play in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference.
Cait Snyder | Ball State University | Angola High School
Snyder, an outside hitter, picked Ball State University, an NCAA Division I program that plays in the Mid-American Conference. She is a back-to-back All-Northeast Corner Conference selection, and earned 2nd team 3A All-State and All-District honors from the Indiana Volleyball Coaches Association and All-Region by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. She tallied 325 kills, 213 digs, 41 service aces, 32 blocks and 1 assist in her senior campaign. She finished with 1,204 career kills. This school year, the Lady Hornets repeated as both regular season and tournament champions of the NECC and clinched their first sectional title since 1996.
Melanie Lee | Indiana Tech | Lakewood Park Christian High School
Lee signed with Indiana Tech, an NAIA program in Fort Wayne that competes in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference. She tallied 288 kills in her senior season at Lakewood Park Christian. She added 96 aces and 98 digs.
Empowered Volleyball Academy partners with Parkview Sports Medicine for athletic training, nutrition, sports performance, athletic rehab and other sports medicine services. Learn more at www.parkviewsportsmedicine.com.