Four Sign With BYU Volleyball

PROVO, Utah—BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead announced four new recruits have signed national letters of intent in the past week, committing to the BYU women's volleyball team for the 2012 season.

The four recruits to sign with the Cougars were Amy Boswell (sister of current Cougar volleyball player Kimberli Boswell), Alexa Gray, Ciara Parker and Samantha Staker.

"We are excited and ready to welcome the 2012 recruiting class to BYU," Olmstead said. "This is an outstanding class that will immediately help our program compete in the West Coast Conference.  Each of these student athletes loves playing volleyball and has been competing in the sport for quite some time.  They understand our vision and the mission of BYU and are ready to step on campus and compete for our program while representing a fine institution.  This is a great recruiting class for BYU Women’s volleyball."

Some of the schools BYU’s signees were also recruited by include Arizona, Boise State, Gonzaga, Iowa, Jacksonville, Montana, New Mexico State, Portland, Seattle, UNLV, Utah, Weber State and Wyoming.

Biographical Information:

Amy Boswell

Hometown: Aloha, Oregon
Previous School: Aloha High School
Position: Middle blocker/opposite hitter
Height: 6-4

BEFORE BYU:

Club:

• 2009-Current Oregon Junior Volleyball Academy (OJVA’s) 18 National Team under coach Steve Suttich
• Played all-around positions: setter, middle, opposite and outside

High school:

• Four-year letter winner in volleyball Aloha High School under head coach Kellie Scholl
• One-year letter winner in basketball under head coach Kevin Jorgensen
• Received 6A Metro league recognition as a sophomore (2nd team, setter), junior (1st team, all around) and senior (1st team, all around)
• Helped her team in 2008 and led her team in 2011 to 6A OSAA Tournament, finishing seventh place and third place respectively in Oregon (the highest ranking for volleyball in school history both times.)
• Team captain 2009, 2010, 2011
• Metro League Academic All-State Award
• Led team to first-ever 6A Metro League Championship in 2011
• 6A Metro League Player of the Year as a senior (2011)
• Named to 2011 All-Tournament First Team for 6A OSAA State Championships

Alexa Gray

Hometown: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Previous school: Centennial High School
Position: Middle blocker/opposite hitter
Height: 6-1

BEFORE BYU:

High School:

• Started playing volleyball in grade 6
• Also played rugby and basketball
• Helped team to first place in Varsity Girls Provincial Volleyball Championships as a junior

Club:

• Helped city team to first place in Varsity Girls City Volleyball Championships
• Played with Calgary Dinos Women’s Volleyball Club since 2008
• Helped Calgary Dinos to U15 and U17 provincial champ titles and U16 and U17 national champ titles
• Named MVP for U15 and U16 championships and to the All-Star team for U17 championships
• Member of U16 Girls Team Canada that competed in Norceca tournament in Guatemala in 2010, going up against such teams as USA and Dominican Republic
• Awarded Best Attack / Best Spiker in the Norceca tournament

Ciara Parker

Hometown: Santa Clara, Utah
Previous School: Snow Canyon High School
Position: Libero/defensive specialist
Height: 5-6

BEFORE BYU:

High School:

• 4A State Tourney MVP in 2009 and 2010
• 4A State All –Tourney Team in 2008
• 3A State All-Tourney Team in 2011
• 4A All-State in 2008
• Deseret News 4A Player of the Year in 2008, 2009 and 2010
• Salt Lake Tribune 4A Player of the Year in 2009 and 2010
• Salt Lake Tribune 3A Player of the Year in 2011
• UVCA Senior All-Star in 2011
• Prep Volleyball.com High School All-American in 2009 and 2010
• Will end her high school career as the all-time assist leaderin the state of Utah with 3,177 assists
• Second all-time in state for aces for her career with 427
• Second all-time in digs with 1,134.

 

Samantha Staker