USC Women's Volleyball Adds Five Volleyball Players For 2011 Season
LOS ANGELES -- Five high school players have committed to play women’s volleyball at USC for the 2011 season, USC head coach Mick Haley announced today. The players are: 5-9 setter Hayley Crone (Temecula/Great Oak HS), 6-2 outside hitter Eve Ettinger (Santa Barbara/Santa Barbara HS), 5-9 outside hitter Bria Russ (Long Beach/Poly HS), 6-3 middle blocker/opposite Hannah Schraer (Arcadia/Mayfield HS) and 6-2 setter/opposite Emily Young (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg HS).
“I think for what our needs were this season, we got just about everything we needed to fit around our current squad,” said Haley. “We got two good setters, one who can set and hit for us. We got another player (Russ), who can provide a lot of speed for us in the back row and challenge for the libero position. We have a middle blocker (Schraer) who provides depth along with challenging for playing time and we have an athlete (Ettinger), who can jump out of the gym. I think we did quite well to supplement the current players we have with this class.”
The USC women’s volleyball team is coming off their sixth NCAA Final Four appearance in the last 11 years. This is the first time since 2004 that USC will have at least three All-Americans returning on its roster with seniors Alex Jupiter, Kendall Bateman and Lauren Williams.
Here are detailed profiles of the incoming players:
Hayley Crone, 5-9 setter (Temecula/Great Oak HS) -- Crone was named by The Californian as the 2010 All-Valley Girls Volleyball Player of the Year after posting 719 assists, 133 digs, 118 kills and 62 service aces. She was rated as the No. 49 Senior Ace by Prep Volleyball. She was named Southwestern League and team most valuable player as a senior and was named to the all-tournament team for the University High Tournament and San Diego SoCal Invitational. She plays club volleyball for the Coast Volleyball Club. This summer, she has been invited to play in Europe with the USA High Performance team.
“She is probably going to surprise a lot of people,” said Haley. “Her ability to locate her sets is really good and she is the type of player where she will work very hard to get her hitters the ball. We are happy with her development and believe she can back up Kendall and see some playing time this year.”
Eve Ettinger, 6-2 outside hitter (Santa Barbara/Santa Barbara HS) -- Ettinger earned All-Channel League first team honors in her junior and senior seasons and was named team most valuable player as a junior. She was rated as the No. 46 Senior Ace by Prep Volleyball. She was named to the 16s all-tournament team at the Junior Olympics and finished in second place at the 2010 AAU Junior Olympics U-18 beach volleyball event. In her senior year, she was named to the Tournament of Champions all-tournament team. This summer, she has been invited to play in Europe with the USA High Performance team.
“Eve is a legitimate 6-2 hitter with a good leap,” said Haley. “She has a great upside in terms of her potential on the court. It’s always good to add an athlete to the mix because she can play indoor or sand and will be good down the road in either of those venues. She can physically challenge for an outside hitter position, but it remains to be seen how quickly she can establish herself in the practice gym as a competitor on a daily basis.”
Bria Russ, 5-9 outside hitter (Long Beach/Poly HS) -- Russ earned 2010 All-CIF Southern Section Division IAA honors in her senior season at Poly High in Long Beach, Calif. She also earned 2010 Prep Volleyball All-America and MaxPreps Division I all-state first team honors. She was named Moore League co-most valuable player. She was ranked as the No. 54 Senior Ace by Prep Volleyball and earned Defensive Dandies first team honors. Russ registered 16 kills and 20 digs for Poly in a five-set loss for Poly during the 2010 CIF Division I state championship.
“She is very similar to (graduated senior Geena Urango) in terms of how she can play in the back row and utilize a jump serve,” said Haley. “She brings a lot of velocity with her jumper. She will challenge for playing time. She is a very aggressive attacker for her size and can also hit from the front court as well as out of the backrow. She will be a crowd pleaser for sure.”
Hannah Schraer, 6-3 middle blocker/opposite (Arcadia/Mayfield HS) -- Schraer earned 2009 and 2010 All-CIF Southern Section Division 3AA and 2010 MaxPreps Division III all-state second team honors in her senior season at Mayfield High. She was a four-year starter at Mayfield and was a member of three CIF-SS division championship squads (4AA in 2007 and 2008 and 3A in 2009). She earned 2009 and 2010 Pasadena Star-News all-area first team honors, along with 2008 Pasadena Star-News all-area second team honors. She was rated as the No. 32 Senior Ace by Prep Volleyball. Schraer earned 2009 and 2010 All-Prep League first team and 2007 and 2008 All-Prep League second team honors. She played club volleyball for the SCVC 18s team that finished fifth in the 2010 Junior Olympics open division.
“Hannah has a pretty big upside for us,” said Haley. “She is an all-around player and, this spring, she established herself as a player who can play all three front-row positions. She showed a lot of promise with her passing and we think she can be a shutdown blocker with her ability to block in any of the three front row positions. It makes her a threat to come into a match and shut down the opponent’s hot hitters. She benefitted greatly from playing all the way around during her club season for Club Troy.”
Emily Young, 6-2 setter/opposite (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg HS) -- The left-handed hitting Young is a 2011 Volleyball Magazine Fab 50 selection and earned 2010 Prep Volleyball All-America special mention and Academic All-America second team honors. She was named Cook County honorary captain of the 2010 Daily Herald all-area girls volleyball team. She was rated as the No. 30 Senior Ace by Prep Volleyball. She was a two-year team captain for Schaumburg and was president of the National Honor Society. Young has an academic class rank of 14 out of 603 students and posted a 4.6 grade-point-average on a 4.0 weighted scale. She played club volleyball for the Sports Performance 18 Elite squad that finished first at the 2011 JVA Premier Invite.
“Emily is probably the best athlete and skilled player of the whole group,” said Haley. “She touches 10-3 and is a very physical and athletic player, but she has battled injuries the past couple of years. If she can adjust to the West Coast play quickly, she will be a candidate for immediate playing time especially with her talent as a left-handed attacker and setter in a 6-2 system. She has the potential to be a six-rotation player. She comes out of the Sports Performance program in Chicago that has produced a number of tremendous Division I setters. She is also an elite academic student.”
