Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Volleyball Signs Six Players for 2010 Season
11/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 17, 2009
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Marshall University volleyball team recently announced the signing of six volleyball players to join the Thundering Herd for the 2010 season. Five-of-the-six student-athletes have been named top-250 prospects by PrepVolleyball.com. The six players are Dorothy Rahal, Laura Der, Desirre Wilkerson, Kaitlin Holm, Sacha Byous-McConnel and Lexy Kessel.
Dorothy Rahal (Venice, Fla./Venice HS)
The 5-foot-7 defensive specialist from Venice, Fla., is a senior at Venice HS, where they advanced to the final four of the 5A Florida State Championship. The Indians have captured the district championship all four years Dorothy Rahal has been a member of the team.
As a senior, she earned second team All-State 5A honors, was named to the 2009 Under Armor Watch List and earned MVP team honors in 2008. She recorded a career-high 33 digs in a match this season. As a freshman, Rahal garnered the Renaissance Eagle Award by maintaining a 3.8 grade point average.
"Dorothy is a dynamic athlete and one of the strongest liberos in the South-East region," head coach Mitch Jacobs said. "She is going to start with us this spring, since she will enroll early. That [defense] is an area of issue for us coming out of this season. Ryanne Milligan has done a great job; however we lack depth at the libero and defensive positions."
Laura Der (Clarksville, Ind./Floyd Central HS)
The Clarksville, Ind., native is a 5-foot-9-inch outside hitter who played at Floyd Central HS her senior season. Prior to playing at Floyd Central, Laura Der took the court for Providence HS for three years.
As a senior for the Highlanders, Der led the team to a 35-4 record and helped them advance to the Indiana state semifinals. In her final high school campaign, she totaled 347 kills and 257 digs. She was a first team All-State selection on three occasions, an academic All-State selection as a senior, named to the Indiana All-Star team, a member of the National Honor Society and garnered AAU All-America honors. She was a member of the MidAmerican Volleyball Association (MAVA) club team, while winning a JVDA National Championship in 2009 with the Kentucky Indiana Volleyball Academy (KIVA) club squad.
"One of things I have to worry about with Laura and Dorothy on the floor at the same time is the number of concussions we might end up with," Jacobs said with a laugh. "Der brings a tremendous toughness factor and the same kind of caliber of desire to get after a ball and play like our Katy Schad."
Desirre Wilkerson (Louisville, Ky./DuPont Manual HS)
A four-year player at DuPont Manual HS in Louisville, Ky., Desirre Wilkerson joins the Herd as a middle blocker. As a senior at duPont Manual, Wilkerson earned second team All-State along with being named to the All-Region team. She was a two-time All-District selection and helped lead the Lady Crimson to a JCPS Championship and District Championship all four seasons she was on the team. She was teammates with Der on the KIVA club team that captured the 2009 JVDA National Championship.
"Desirre is a very quick and very fast athlete," Jacobs said. "She will be game ready in the middle when she gets here because she can go pin-to-pin fast and gets good penetration on the block. She gives us a real speed presence in our freshman class."
Sacha Byous-McConnel (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Los Osos HS)
Sacha Byous-McConnel hails from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., where she has played middle blocker and outside hitter for two seasons at Los Osos HS. Prior to playing for the Grizzles, the 6-foot-2-inch Byous-McConnel played two years at Western Christian HS. She is a two-time first team All-League selection and played for Laguna Beach Volleyball and TCA Club West club teams. Last season, Byous-McConnel collected an impressive .520 attacking percentage. She was named to the Senior Aces top-150 list by TCA.
"Sacha gives us an athlete with tremendous potential," Jacobs said. "She is strong, quick, and has been training with TCA. She is our first California player since I've been coach here and Marshall made perfect sense for her academic needs."
Kaitlin Holm (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers HS)
An outside hitter and middle blocker from Fort Myers, Fla., Kaitlin Holm will join the 2010 MU volleyball squad. Holm hails from Fort Myers HS, where she was a two-year starter on the volleyball team. She has twice garnered second team All-State honors, while being a three-time first team All-Area selection along with being named an AAU All-American. In her senior season at Fort Myers, Holm collected 297 kills, 68 total blocks and 41 service aces. As a member of the USA South club team, the squad placed fourth in a regional qualifier and third in the Denver Qualifier.
"Kaitlin has been a middle blocker at the high school and club level, but we are looking for her to play on the outside or the right side for us," Jacobs said. "She's a good jumper and at 6-foot-2 she gets up high and has a very heavy arm."
Lexy Kessel (Ripley, W.Va./Ripley HS)
Lexy Kessel will join the Marshall volleyball program as one of the top volleyball players in the state of West Virginia. The Ripley, W.Va., native played four years at Ripley HS where she earned numerous accolades and records. At Ripley she set school records in career kills (1,749), single-season kills (701), career digs (1,658), single-season digs (742) and hitting efficiency (.371).
Kessel was a two-time Mountain State Athletic Conference (MSAC) Player of the Year recipient, two-time first team All-State selection, three-time MSAC first team selection, twice was name captain of the all-conference squad and was named a Wendy's High School Heisman for West Virginia.
"It really made my day when Lexy told me she wanted to be a part of Marshall volleyball," Jacobs said. "She is a fantastic kid and is always playing as hard as she can on the court. I think she is the most talented player in the state of West Virginia in the senior class. She is going to play in a defensive specialist role, which is going to help us continue to get deeper at that position. It will enable us to move Milligan back to the setter position full time."
"The greatest thing about this whole class is that they are good kids and they come from great hard working families and they all understand the idea of hard work," Jacobs said. "As long as they come in with that mentality to be a part of this program and make a difference before they leave, this could be the best recruiting class that we have ever signed."
