Fairfield Announces Seven Players Set to Join 2018 Team

Courtesy: Fairfield Athletics

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Fairfield University Volleyball – the three-time defending Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Champion – will add seven highly-touted student-athletes to their roster as a part of the Fairfield University Class of 2022, as announced by head coach Todd Kress. The incoming septet will join the Stags beginning in the fall of 2018.

“Our 2018 recruiting class is a very talented group and, more importantly, is comprised of seven high-character young women,” said Kress, a six-time MAAC Coach of the Year. “They all chose Fairfield as a great opportunity to expand their broad educational pursuits and help further the traditions of our championship program. I’m beyond excited to get them in the gym in August and to be a part of their future success!”

Sophia Hosokawa is a libero out of Aliso Niguel High School in Aliso Viejo, California. In addition to winning the CIF Section 1A Championship at Aliso Niguel in 2014, Hosokawa was a 2018 Las Vegas Classics gold medalist and 2018 Girls Junior Nationals bronze medalist at the club level with Momentous Volleyball Club in Irvine. She was recognized by her high school for her performance in the classroom with the Student-Athlete Award.

Lark Jones is a middle blocker from Fishers, Indiana, where she starred at Hamilton Southeastern High School for head coach Jason Young. A four-year letterwinner at Hamilton, Jones own the program record for blocks and was the recipient of the Royal Award as one of the school’s most outstanding student-athletes. Jones also played for the nationally-prominent Munciana Volleyball Club during her scholastic career. Her father Lyndon played basketball for Coach Bobby Knight at Indiana University.

An outside hitter from San Diego, Julia Kallen was a four-year letterwinner and two-year captain for Kara Hanes at Rancho Bernardo High School. She was an All-State and First Team All-Palomar League honoree after setting a school record with 585 kills to go along with a team-best 380 digs. Kallen led her squad to both the CIF Division IV State Championship Match and the CIF San Diego Section Division II Championship Semifinals in 2017. For her efforts, she was selected as the team MVP as a senior and earned the team’s Best Offensive Player award in three consecutive seasons. Academically, Kallen received the four-year Silver Star Award at Rancho Bernardo for her 4.0 grade-point average.

It's official!! Can't wait to be a stag?⚪️ pic.twitter.com/eOiQYZQmAC

— Julia Kallen (@julia_kallen12) November 9, 2017

Maddy Moore comes to Fairfield from Council Rock High School North in Newtown, Pennsylvania. She was an All-Suburban One League First Team libero for head coach Mike Adams in 2017, also earning the team’s Most Valuable Player honors and the Coach’s Award. Moore, who also spent time as an outside hitter, was named to the Bucks County Courier Times Golden Team in 2017 and previously earned Third Team All-SOL laurels in her junior campaign. She was a four-year member of the Distinguished Honor Roll at Council Rock North and a member of the National Honor Society.

A setter from Nicholasville, Kentucky, Alexis Rich was a four-year contributor for head coach Billy Bird at West Jessamine High School. She was the Region 12 Player of the Year and a First Team All-State selection in 2016, highlighting a scholastic career that also included four All-Region Tournament Team nods and three All-District Tournament Team distinctions. Rich was also an Academic All-State honoree and a Kentucky Bluegrass Orthopedic Scholar-Athlete. Her father Barry Rich played college football at the University of Kentucky.

An All-Southwestern Conference honoree in all four of her seasons at Avon Lake (Ohio) High School, Emily Schillinger joins the Stags after a record-setting career. Schillinger was a four-year letterwinner and two-year captain for head coach Dan Berkheimer, setting the school record for career kills (1,090) as well as kills in a single-season (373) and in a single match. She was an All-State selection in 2017, a two-time All-District pick and a three-time All-County honoree. Schillinger earned High Honor Roll status in all four of her years at Avon Lake, including Outstanding Student of the Year honors in Chemistry and an honorable mention for the Outstanding Student of the Year award in French. She will enroll in the Marion Peckham Egan School of Nursing at Fairfield. Her father Andy Schillinger played football at Miami (Ohio) and was drafted by the Phoenix Cardinals in the 1988 NFL Draft.

Laura Seeger was the Most Valuable Player of the Private-Parochial League in 2017, capping a career at Our Lady of Mercy High School that also included back-to-back All-Greater Rochester selections in her junior and senior campaigns. The outside hitter from Penfield, New York was also tabbed for the Section V AA All-Tournament Team in 2017 playing for head coach CJ Denk. Seeger, who will enter the Dolan School of Business at Fairfield, was Vice President of the National Honor Society at Our Lady of Mercy.

Congrats to someone everyone (literally) looks up to- our very own Seegs- on her signing today to play D1 volleyball at Fairfield University !! So proud of you, Laura !! #rollstags pic.twitter.com/rCzTiPOB3b

— The Lion’s Den (@OLMLionsDen) December 15, 2017

The 2017 campaign marked the third consecutive MAAC Championship for the Stags and the conference-record 10th title in program history, as well as the 17th MAAC Regular Season Championship. The 2018 season is tentatively set to open on Friday, Aug. 24 at James Madison University. The complete fall slate, as well as the broadcast and promotional schedules, will be announced in the coming weeks on FairfieldStags.com.