Marshall University Athletics
@HerdVolleyball Inks Six for 2016 Recruiting Class
11/18/2015 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Coach Mitch Jacobs and the Marshall volleyball program announced six signees in the 2015-16 recruiting class Wednesday.
"I think we really handled about every position on the court with the six coming in," Jacobs said. "It's a very deep class. You have to work hard to get a class like this and there's no question that this is Taylor Strickland's first real class. She started working when these kids were in their sophomore year for us. She's put in a tireless work effort and I don't know if we've ever had anybody in her recruiting position that's worked as hard, and has had as much communication with recruits before. The credit for this class has to go on Taylor's shoulders. We've worked very close together on it, but the daily responsibility lands on her shoulder. All these kids are great kids, and we can't wait to get them into this program for the next four years."
Madelyn Cole, Madison Hill, Tiffany Isaacs, Audrey Shannon, Katie Smith and Jac'cara Walker will join the Herd in the fall of 2016.
Madelyn Cole - Plano Senior High School - 5-10 Hometown: Dallas, Texas
Cole was a two-sport athlete in high school, lettering in basketball and volleyball. Cole was a First Team All-District four years for volleyball, while being named Co-setter and setter of the year for two years. She earned the newcomer of the year award as well. In basketball, Cole played for the varsity team her freshman and sophomore year and was named second team all-state and all-district those two years.
Cole plans to major in business.
"Madelyn has a fierce competitive drive, but she has this smile for when things happen on the court that just makes all the other players feel at ease and play," Coach Jacobs said. "Her athleticism is superior to any setter that we've had come in here in the past. She's going to be a kid that gets near 10-feet, but beyond that she can also bring it offensively. So in a 5-1 or in a 6-2, she is someone that we expect to make a huge impact for our program over the next four years."
Madison Hill - Heritage Christian Academy - 6-1 Hometown: Rockwall, Texas
Hill is a three-year starter at Heritage Christian Academy and has helped lead the team to the district title and an undefeated record over the last three years. During her time at the Academy, Hill has played in 346 sets with 1,490 kills and a .412 hitting percentage. She has recorded 91 blocks, 488 digs and 166 aces. As a sophomore, Hill was named State All-Tournament MVP en route to a First Team All-State honor. Hill is a three-time First Team All-District member and has been named District MVP the last three years.
Hill is in her eighth year of club volleyball, competing in the Open Division of USAV. The last three years, Hill has competed for Madfrog Volleyball Club and has qualified for the USAV Nationals in those three years. In the 16's group, Hill helped lead her team to a third place finish in the National Championships.
Hill plans to major in sports medicine.
"Madison is just business," Coach Jacobs said. "She gets on the court and she's focused. She has amazing eyes, they're always moving and always picking up things on what everybody is doing on the other side. She's going to really need to improve block timing, but offensively in front of the setter, she's as good of a scorer as I think we've had in terms of just being able to score in front of the setter. Kiekover is doing a couple of amazing things, but Kiekover is able to go pin-to-pin, Madison could develop in that sense, but we see her really being a mainstay and giving us a lot of production through the middle of the court."
Tiffany Isaacs - Hurricane High School - 6-3 Hometown: Hurricane, W.Va.
Isaacs joins the Herd after being a four-time All-County player and a two-time West Virginia MSAC All-Conference Player. The Hurricane, W.Va., native was named as an honorable mention to the West Virginia Class AAA All-State teams.
Isaacs has been a member of the River Cities Volleyball Club for the past four years and helped the team to a third place finish at the 2015 AAU Nationals. She was a member of the "BIP" national team that traveled to Greece and won the 2015 Loutraki Christmas Cup.
Isaacs is a member of the National Honor Society and Mu Alpha Theta and holds a 4.1 GPA. She plans on majoring in chemistry.
"Tiffany has grown up in our club and has really gone from a player, who struggled chewing gum and walking at the same time as a 14-year old to a person that has put so much work towards her fitness and agility during her offseason to become a true athlete," Coach Jacobs said. "She's built with so much power, nobody hits a ball harder than Tiff does here in the state. She's going to make an impact. We don't know when or how fast, but we know that Tiffany is going to make a big impact here at Marshall before she's done."
Audrey Shannon - Providence High School - 5-4 Hometown: New Albany, Ind.
Shannon has been to the state championship all four years in high school. Her team was runners-up as a freshman and won back-to-back titles in Class 2A in her sophomore and junior years. Shannon capped off her senior season with a Class 3A State Championship and was named first team all-state. Shannon was invited to the Junior North vs. South Game in Indiana, where she was named to the all-star team.
The New Albany, Ind., native has played the last eight years with the Union Volleyball Club. She helped lead the team to the Junior Volleyball Association U17 Open Championship.
Shannon is a member of the National Honor Society. She is No. 1 in her class with a 4.0 GPA and plans on majoring in mechanical engineering and minoring in mathematics.
"Audrey possess an incredible ability to change directions," Jacobs said. "She has great eye-hand coordination, but her feet are as quick as any Libero that we've watched in recruiting last year. We feel that especially with Audrey having one year to learn the libero position, with Allie here as a senior will give her a big advantage. We hope that Audrey will help us as a defensive specialist right off the bat, but I think our libero positon is in great hands for the next four years."
Katie Smith - Jonathan Alder High School - 5-7 Hometown: Plain City, Ohio
A three-year varsity starter, Smith recorded 530 kills, primarily as a right side hitter with a .336 hitting percentage. Smith also recorded 108 blocks. Smith helped Jonathan Alder High School to two district championships in 2013 and 2015 and district runner-up in 2014.
A native of Plain City, Ohio, Smith played for the elite volleyball training center for the past six years and the USA high performance sand volleyball in the summers.
Smith was a MOAC Scholar Athlete and collected a 3.5 GPA. She plans on majoring in graphic design and minoring in web design or marketing. Smith's older sibling is Nick Smith of Marshall's football team.
"Katie is a character, she's got an amazing personality and she brings a bunch of talent too," Jacobs said. "She plays outside hitter on her high school team, so like Dorothy Rahal (2010-13) before, she brings the ability to attack out of the back row as a defensive player. She can bring a really tough serve and I think she is going to influence our defensive side of the game."
Jac'cara "Jac" Walker - P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School - 5-10 Hometown: Gainesville, Fla.
Walker is a PrepVolleyball 2015 Pre-Season All-American, while also earning all-American status in 2013 and 2014 as a sophomore and a junior. During her time at P.K. Yonge, Walker recorded 1,700 kills, 154 blocks, 420 service points, 260 aces and 1,100 digs. She led her team to two state titles and she is a six-time all-area selection. Walker was selected to the All-Tournament team for Berkeley Prep Tournament two times and the Gator Town Classic All-Tournament team twice. Walker was a finalist for the PrepVolleyball Player of the Year in 2013 and 2014. Walker received honors from MaxPreps/AVCA, as she was named player of the week and named MaxPreps Medium School All-American in 2013 and 2014.
Walker has been a member of the USA High Performance Team for two years, while also a member of Team Florida. Walker led Team Florida to win the World Championship Trophy during the summer of 2014 and was named MVP of the tournament. Walker assisted her club team to finish second at the USAV Nationals in 2015 and was named to the all-tournament team.
Walker plans on majoring in Psychology.
"We got lucky with Jac'Cara," Coach Jacobs said. "We were recruiting Jac very early in her sophomore year, and before you know it, SEC teams were recruiting her and she pulled the trigger early at Mississippi State. Then things happened with a new coaching staff there, and it wasn't a comfortable fit anymore for her and the commitment was dropped. Then I received a call from her coach, who I've been friends with a long time about her and to see if we had a spot open, which we did. So we took a really hard look again at Jac'cara. We knew we were second on her list the first time through, but now we were right there at the top. Sometimes things just happen for a reason. She came in to camp and loved everything about it, she had a couple other visits that she was planning on that got cancelled after camp and committed to the Herd."
