VOLLEYBALL SIGNS ELSTON, MOSS AND WILSON TO LETTERS OF INTENT
11/20/2007
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento State associate head volleyball coach Ruben Volta announced today that prep middle hitters Olivia Moss (Lewis Palmer HS in Colorado), Kelsey Elston (Rocklin HS) and Shannon Wilson (Rocklin HS) have signed National Letters of Intent, and will enroll at Sacramento State as freshmen in the fall of 2008. Volta will take over the head coaching duties for the Hornets next season.
Elston and Wilson are high school teammates at Rocklin High School, and they begin play in the NorCal Championships tonight after leading the Thunder to a second place finish in the Sac-Joaquin Section. Moss helped lead Lewis Palmer High School (Monument, Colo.) to a 26-4 overall record, a district championship and a Colorado Springs Metro title.
Wilson, a 6-2 middle hitter from Rocklin, Calif., is currently in her third varsity season with the Thunder, and was an all-Sierra Foothill League selection as a junior despite missing 10 matches. All-conference accolades have not been given out yet this season. She was a member of the 16-under Gold Cal Junior Club which placed third at the Junior Olympics in 2006. Wilson averaged 1.70 blocks per game in 2005, which remains the third best mark in school history.
“Shannon is a strong middle hitter with nice size and a very good arm swing,” Volta said. “She is a versatile attacker who puts up a big block and has a nice presence at the net.”
Elston, a 6-0 middle hitter from Rocklin, is a two-time first team all-league selection (including all-Metro last season) and has spent all four seasons on the varsity team. Elston’s 141 blocks last season were the second-best mark in school history and her 131 blocks as a sophomore were the third best mark. She also owns the school record for blocks per game (2.10), and the single-match record for blocks (19, set against Granite Bay HS), both set in 2006. Elston spent this past year playing for the Gold Cal Junior Club, coached by former Hornet volleyball players Carissa Buie and Kristin Lutes.
“Kelsey is a very good middle blocker who possesses quickness and great jumping ability,” Volta said. “She is a well rounded player, an aggressive attacker and a very good blocker.”
Both Wilson and Elston will play for Gold Cal again this year, and Volta will be the assistant coach for that team.
Moss, a 6-2 middle hitter from Monument, Colo., has played four years of volleyball for Lewis Palmer High School, where she has been named first team academic all-state twice (2006-07). As the team’s rightside hitter this season, she helped lead the team to a 26-4 overall record, a Colorado Springs Metro League championship, a district and regional championship, and an appearance in the state tournament. She has played for the Front Range Volleyball Club team that placed second at the Junior Olympics in 2005 (15-national) and fifth at the same event in 2006 (16-open).
“Olivia brings great experience playing for a very strong club program,” Volta said. “She is a terrific blocker with nice size, and I look forward to coaching her for four years.”
Sacramento State (26-7, 13-3) will host the Big Sky Tournament this Friday-Saturday, Nov. 23-24. The Hornets, who are the tournament’s No. 2 seed, will receive a first round bye and play the highest remaining seed in the tournament semifinals on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The winner of Saturday’s championship match (7:00 p.m.) will receive an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, a place the Hornets have been five straight years and nine of the last 10. With the league’s co-regular season championship in hand, Sacramento State has now won either the Big Sky’s regular season and/or tournament championship each of the last 11 years.
