With just under a month 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.
Michigan State comes in at number 19:
- 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
The Michigan State Spartans are coming off a season that saw them win 25 matches, go 13-7 in the rugged Big Ten and collect the ninth overall ranking in the NCAA Tournament. They were upset in the second round though by Arizona, but still finished the season ranked in the top-20 at number 19. To bolster their returning roster and counteract some losses, they bring on five freshmen in 2017.
Of the five newcomers, two were listed on the Under Armour High School All-American teams: Jamye Cox and Meredith Norris. A 5’6″ defensive specialist/libero from Oregon, Ohio, Cox was ranked as the 40th best recruit by PrepVolleyball and has experience on the U.S. Women’s Junior National Team. Norris comes in from Owosso, Michigan as a 6’3″ outside hitter who was ranked as the 25th best recruit by PrepVolleyball. Both players also participated in the Under-Armour All-American game that was played at the 2016 NCAA Final Four.
Joining Cox and Norris as a PrepVolleyball top-40 player is Alyssa Chronowski, a 6’2″ outside hitter from Munster, Indiana. Chronowski was ranked 30th in the senior recruiting rankings.
The final pair coming in to East Lansing for 2017 is Julia Hatcher and Bella Legarza. Both players are middle blockers, as Hatcher comes in at 6’3″ out of Richmond, Kentucky while Legarza stands at 6’2″ from San Francisco, California.
The five freshmen join a team that features some key returnees, led by 2016 AVCA Second-Team All-American junior middle blocker Alyssa Garvelink. They also bring back 2016 AVCA All-America Honorable Mention honoree Autumn Bailey in addition to setter Rachel Minarick, who was Big Ten Honorable Mention in 2016.
The talented newcomers combined with the returning stars have Michigan State ranked 13th in our latest preseason top 25.
Leave a Reply