Volleyball Recruiting - Class of 2019

[1972Shocker]

I believe this is the 1st Shocker Volleyball commitment for the Class of 2019:

OTVA @OTVAvolleyball Feb 8

Congratulations to @ariannaarjo on committing to play at Wichita State!! @GoShockers #OTVA #committed




Arianna is a 5'8" Libero from Bishop Moore Hiigh School in Orlanda, Florida.

To the best of my recollection the Shocks haven't had many, if any, players from Florida. There are 12 years of rsoters on GoShockers.com (2006 - 2017) and none of the players wre from Florida. Perhaps joining the AAC may have been a factor here.

http://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/aria...FA/default.htm

Arianno somehwat resembles Shocker Hall of Famer Kelly Broussard. We can only hope that extends to the way she plays.

[1972Shocker]

Here are some highlights of Arianna's work on the court.

Coach Lamb on Arjomand: "Arianna has a lot of experience, having played at a high level all through youth volleyball. Her volleyball IQ and skills are what jumped out at me. She will be able to make an impact early at Wichita State."

[pogo]

i would wager she saw the Shox play in Orlando and really liked what she saw.. Welcome to the program

[WuDrWu]

Twitter announcement last night:

https://twitter.com/riahbuss23?lang=en

Edit: Just realized this is a 2020 announcement. Wow.

[1972Shocker]

Lambo says you have to get them while they are young in the game of volleyball. I guess we need to start a 2020 recruiting thread. Of course, Marriah can't sign a letter of intent November of 2019.

Marriah, who played for Beatrice her freshman year where her Mom was the head coach, was regarded as the top freshman in Nebraska. She transferred to Lincoln Lutheran for her sophomore year (2017-18) and apparently her Mom was no longer coaching Beatrice.

Here are couple of articles about Marriah, a 6-0 outside hitter:

http://www.omaha.com/neprepzone/volleyball/beatrice-freshman-marriah-buss-puts-herself-in-record-book/article_6efa0bff-7a8e-573f-adaf-24a90f648eeb.html

http://journalstar.com/sports/high-school/varsity-blog/beatrice-all-stater-buss-transferring-to-lincoln-lutheran/article_c6b0be73-9d08-5a0e-9b34-c8cab590b60a.html

Here are some highlight videos of Marriah:

http://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/marriah-buss/GLzcIWVgEea-8KA2nzwbTA/videos.htm

My guess is Lambo is thinking 6-rotation skils with Marriah along the lines of Jody Larson.

[WuDrWu]

Interesting nugget from Rich Kern whom I hold in exceedingly high regard. Nicole Anderson from Plano, Tx has been committed to Boston College for almost a year but yesterday apparently changed to WSU.

PrepVolleyball still shows her a Golden Eagle commit, but if you Google Search you'll see a result saying that too linked to her Texas Club site, but if you click on the link it's not available so I think they took it down. The 6'0" OH is entering her senior year in high school at Plano East.

[1972Shocker]

Interesting nugget from Rich Kern whom I hold in exceedingly high regard. Nicole Anderson from Plano, Tx has been committed to Boston College for almost a year but yesterday apparently changed to WSU.

PrepVolleyball still shows her a Golden Eagle commit, but if you Google Search you'll see a result saying that too linked to her Texas Club site, but if you click on the link it's not available so I think they took it down. The 6'0" OH is entering her senior year in high school at Plano East.

Here are a few links that indicate Nicole is heading to Wichita State:

https://twitter.com/nicolerenee0922?lang=en

https://skylinejuniors.com/dallas/?cat=5

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bl3uv8Bnqka/?taken-by=skylinejuniors

Player Profile

These highlight were from February 2017 (Nicole would have been 16.5 at that time):.

Assuming she has continued to grow her overall game she looks like a potential 6-rotation player to me.

[flyingMoose]

I love the adjustments to some poor sets and nice sink on the jump serve.

[ShockTalk]

That Skyline Juniors Club team had some pretty impressive colleges committed to.

[1972Shocker]

Coach Lamb on Anderson: "We need Nicole to be the volleyball player on the team. We need her to have veteran IQ and stability out there (volleyball court), and do everything – passing, digging, attacking from both ends and back row attacking. I want to put the World on her shoulders and watch her handle it. She can be a very, very busy four-year player at Wichita State."

[1972Shocker]

Lamb Adds Seven During Early Signing Period

Interesting signing class for Lambo. I was a little surprised to see Lambo bring in 7 freshmen with only 2 seniors departing although we know Lambo is not bashful about redshirting true freshmen. In fact, earlier this year he said that as a general rule he really doesn't expect freshmen to be able to step right in and contribute and he actually hopes they can't because that inidcates some issues. We have 3 freshman redshirting this year.

We knew about 2 of these recruits -- Arianna Arjomand and Nicole Anderson -- discussed above. The other 5 are new names to me. Sounds like Lambo is really high on Nicole Anderson.

The class includes 3 outside hitter/opposite hitters, 3 liberos/defensive specialists and 1 setter.

Welcome to Shocker Nation ladies. Best of luck to all of you.

A blond, 6 foot setter who wears No. 13. Where have I seen that before?

[Goshockers222]

I’ve seen Litzau in person several times, she’s fast and knows her way around the court. She could be able to make an immediate difference.

[1972Shocker]

Coach Lamb on Litzau: "Kayce has so much energy, enthusiasm and hustle. She just reminds me of (former Shocker) Katie Reilly, who had the best motor in perhaps Shocker history. I can't wait to train and develop her as a setter."

[WuDrWu]

Totally forgot about Kacey being a Senior Ace. Not quite as highly regarded as Chelsey Feekin, but not far off either. You have to be one hell of a player to make Prep Volleyball's Senior Aces list.

[1972Shocker]

Kayce Litzau from Wisconsin was a 2018 AVCA High School Senior All-American Honorable mention which would rank her somewhere between 73-150 in the nation among 2018 seniors and somewhere between 12-26 among 2018 senior setters.

https://www.avca.org/awards/all-regi...llamerica.html

Kayce was born into a volleyball family. Her mother Kathy, who played her college volleyball at Notre Dame, was the head coach at Wisconsin-Milwaukee from 1993-2006. She took over a program that had been 3-33 in 1992. Her UWM teams won 271 games in her 14 years and played in 6 NCAA Tournaments. After the 2006 season she transitioned into Athletic Administration at UWM and is currently Senior Associate Athletics Director and Senior Women's Adminsitrator. Kayce played in high school with her two older sisters, Lauren (3 years older) and Dani (2 years older). Volleyball has been an integral part of her life.

I didn't find any recent videos of Kayce in action but here is a video from 2.5. years ago when which must have been around the end of her freshman year in high school. My guess is this is from her club team. Kayce is the setter for the team in the white jerseys. She is #3.

[1972Shocker]

So it appears that Lambo continues his streak of never having successfully recruited a player from Oklahoma. On the other hand I don't know if we have ever had a player from Wisconsin on the roster or not. If we did it was prior to 2006 (that is a far back as the rosters go on GoShockers.com). This year's recruiting class has two players from Wisconsin.

Setter Kayce Litzua is from Greenfield which is a suburb on the south side of MIlwaukee and Libero/DS Shea Lauria from Colgate which is about 25 miles northwest of Greenfield.

Kayce played club volleyball with the Milwaukee Sting and Shea played for Wisconsin Premier. Possible that they have played against each other in AAU ball. Not sure about high school.

[1972Shocker]

You might dig these highlight for Shea Lauria

Coach Lamb on Lauria: "Shea impressed us in camp with her all-around energy and enthusiasm. She's someone who just can't wait to get in the gym every day and be a part of the team. I think she's underrated at her position, and she'll make a mark here in the future."

[1972Shocker]

Here some more highlights to dig, this time for Lily Liekwig out of Janesville, Iowa:

https://www.hudl.com/video/3/7279722/5a42ec152aa6240eacbd5a43

Coach Lamb on Liekweg: "Lily is as good of an athlete at her position as we've ever recruited. The sky's the limit for Lily. She is absolutely the athlete that everybody is hoping to find at the position. She is loaded with upside."

[WstateU]

Lambo and the Triple L's... Lauria, Liekweg and Litzau.

[1972Shocker]

I guess the fact that we have 3 out of 7 recruits at the Libero/DS position with Giorgia in place and Kara Bown showing improvement late in her junior year shows just how much Lambo values back row defense.

I had heard that help was on the way and Arianna, Shea and Lily all seem to have some very nice skills and potential.

I think Lambo expected redshirt freshman Jenna Mak to be a contributor this year before her injury forced her to sit out the year. Hopefully, Jenna will be back to 100% in time for Spring ball and will be able to contribute as a sophomore. Makenna Miller, out of Maize South, also redshirted as a freshman this year.

So at least potentially Lambo has plenty of options to provide Giorgia with some help and to take over for Giorgia at the Libero when she finishes up.

[1972Shocker]

Highlight video for Skylar Goering, 5-11 OH, from Maize South HS.

Coach Lamb on Goering: "I'm super happy Skylar is coming to Wichita State. I've watched her develop as a young player, being from Wichita. I feel like Skylar's best volleyball is way out in front of her. She is talented, and I can see her working herself into a role on either pin."

Skylar's game looks to be somewhat like Regan Stawalt's game.

[1972Shocker]

I was able to find highlights on all of the above incoming recruits except Sophia Rohling, the 6-3 Opposite, from Neodesha HS.

Coach Lamb on Rohling: "Sophia is a small-town talent whose skills have improved at a very fast rate, lately. Her physical presence and power should allow us to do a lot with her sooner than we originally thought. We're also going to be training her in several spots, as well."

I think a redshirt for Sophia is a good possibility next year. I have seen her listed both at 6-3 and 6-4. If Sophia works out well it would not be the first time Lambo has found an under-recruited, perhaps hidden gem that he was able to polish to shine brightly. Sara Lungren and Abbie Lehman come to mind not that I expect Sophia will be a future Shocker Hall of Famer which Sara is and Abbie will be but.........

[boyshocker]

Thinking we are going to see some major turnover this spring. Hear the next two classes are very strong and would not be surprised to see ten or more kids leaving, including some with playing time. Just a gut feeling and a little of what happened with mens basketball last season. Also wonder how much longer Lamb can keep two dozen players happy?