With a little less than two weeks left before the 2017 volleyball season begins, VolleyMob is taking a look at some of the collegiate recruiting classes you may have missed and those who stand to make an impact on teams in and out of the final AVCA Top 25.
Boise State continues are dive into the AVCA Receiving Votes portion:
- Stanford
- Texas
- Minnesota
- Nebraska
- Wisconsin
- UCLA
- Washington
- BYU
- Creighton
- Penn State
- North Carolina
- Kansas
- Florida State
- Michigan
- Florida
- Missouri
- Hawai’i
- Ohio State
- Michigan State
- Arizona
- Oregon
- San Diego
- Kentucky
- Washington State
- Utah
- Western Kentucky
- Boise State
The Boise State Broncos made the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2016 after they faced fellow non-Power Five conference stalwart Western Kentucky and swept the Hilltoppers in the first round. They fell to Stanford, the eventual National Champion, in the second round as they totaled a 26-7 (16-2 MWC) record. Now, as they look to build off a successful season, Boise State is welcoming four freshmen and one incoming transfer to its program in 2017.
Of the four incoming freshmen, three are outside hitters. Standing 6’0″ tall out of Burns, Oregon, Cat Clemens was the Oregon 2A State Player of the Year but missed her senior season with injury at Burns High School. Another six footer, Lizzie Wilson comes by way of San Diego, California where she was All-Palomar Conference First-Team as a senior at Westview High School. Completing the trio of outside hitters is 6’2″ Kiley Lewis from Auburn, Washington. Lewis was a two-time all-state tournament team honoree at Auburn Mountainview High School.
The final high school recruit headed to Boise State in 2017 is Keri Leake, a 6’1″ middle blocker from Clovis, California. She was a two-time All-Tri River Athletic Conference Honoree at Clovis High School including her senior season when she logged 262 kills with a .355 hitting percentage and 39 blocks.
The incoming transfer is Tiaja McKnight, a 6’2″ middle blocker from Rutgers. McKnight appeared in 16 matches with eight starts as a freshman in 2015, even recording nine blocks in a match against a ranked Michigan team. In 2016 as a sophomore, she appeared in 36 sets and totaled 33 kills, 33 blocks (0.92 per set) and four aces.
The additions will help offset the loss of 2016 AVCA Honorable Mention All-American middle blocker Maddy O’Donnell. The Broncos do return a different AVCA Honorable Mention All-American in outside hitter Sierra Nobley who will look to be a senior leader in 2017.
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