Rice Inks Two For 2008
11/26/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 26, 2007
HOUSTON -- The Rice volleyball team signed California's Megan White and Texan Ashleigh McCord to national letters of intent for fall 2008, head coach Genny Volpe announced Monday.
"Signing Megan and Ashleigh is exciting for our program," said Volpe. "These two players can both come in and make an immediate impact to a team that's already got a lot of talent."
As a four year varsity starter, White, a 5-10 outside hitter from Orange County, Calif., helped the Santa Margarita Eagles to a CIF championship in 2004, a second-place CIF finish in 2005, and in 2006, led the team to the D-1 playoffs and the state semifinals. As a sophomore, Megan was named a member of second team all-league and the following year, received first-team all-league honors.
"Megan immediately is going to bring us great ball control, great court sense and just overall experience," noted Volpe. "She's a great passer and great defender. She's just a great all-around volleyball player who's going to make an immediate impact for us."
White also captained the Laguna Beach Volleyball Club for four years, one of the top teams in Southern California. In the 16s division, White led her team to a region title and an impressive fifth-place finish in the Junior Olympics. For her leadership and performance at the club level, not only was she asked to play for USA Volleyball High Performance A2 team in 2006 but was also honored by PrepVolleyball.com as one of the top 150 "Senior Aces" in 2008.
 Owls' Future Looks Bright  | |
McCord, a 6-2 middle blocker from Wylie, Texas, was a four year letterman for the Wylie High School Pirates. As a freshman, she was named to the honorable mention all-district team for district 11-4A. The following year, she was named all-area newcomer of the year by the Dallas Morning News and MVP of the season by her teammates. McCord also earned the MVP distinction at both the Texas Primier Tournament and the Saginaw-Boswell Tournament. Later in the season, she was honored as the district's Offensive Player of the Year. Although she was out with a knee injury her junior year, she came back strong in 2007-08 season to make the all-tournament team at both the Saginaw-Boswell and the San Marcos Tournaments.
Ashleigh also competed at the club level for the Skyline Juniors who placed 22nd in Open Nationals last season.
"Ashleigh is definitely going to help us at the net," said Volpe. "She adds size, power and a great volleyball physique. One of the best things about her is she is still pretty young to the game of volleyball and she's got a lot of improvement to do. The potential is off the charts for her. "
When not occupied with volleyball, McCord played basketball for the Pirates. She also distinguished herself academically as a member of the National Honors Society both her junior and senior year.
"I'd like to thank both (asst. coach) Melissa (Ferris) and (asst. coach) Trent (Herman) for all the hard work they do in the recruiting proces and helping us get great athletes like Megan and Ashleigh," said Volpe.
White and McCord will join the 10 returning Owls for workouts beginning in August.