CHICO – The Chico State volleyball team is putting the California Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAA) on notice – the 2012 edition of the Wildcats will have no shortage of offensive firepower at the net this fall. Besides returners Jessica Leek, Alex Shurtz, Ellie Larronde and Lindsay Quigley, ’Cats head coach Cody Hein has bolstered his pin positions with the addition of outside hitters Hannah Wilkins and Shannon Boling, and strengthened the middle with Melissa Berndt and Katie Morley. Setter Haley Uhland completes a quintet of talented newcomers joining the Wildcat roster.
Wilkins, a 5-11 hitter who can be utilized at both outside and opposite positions, has the potential to contribute defensively and well as on offense. “Hannah has the ability to play the game really high, both when attacking and blocking,” Hein said. “I envision her getting a lot of kills hitting the X in our slide-X offensive system. She can put up a nice-size block, which coupled with the effective X-hitting leads me to believe her impact will be stronger on the right (opposite hitter) than the left (outside).”
A star at Bakersfield Christian High School, Wilkins collected 444 kills and 64 service aces as a senior and led the Eagles to two straight South Sequoia League championships. For her efforts, she was named team and league MVP, and received All-League, All-Area and All-State honors.
The 5-11 Boling comes to Chico from Carondelet High School in Concord, where she averaged 17 kills, 19 digs and four aces per match. “Shannon comes in ready to score points in the CCAA,” Hein said of his young outside hitter. “She has an arm-swing that is going to push for playing time early. Her competitiveness is very apparent and should immediately help make practices better.”
Berndt, a 6-0 junior transfer from Butte College, could figure prominently in the Wildcats’ plans. “Melissa is going to come in and compete for a spot in the middle immediately,” said Hein. “She brings a good block and is more than ready to hit the sets in front of the setter. If she can bring her tough serve and some timely blocks to the game as she picks up on the speeds of our sets, she is going to be a big help. It’s also nice to get a local product.”
Berndt was a two-time All-Golden Valley Conference player at Butte, amassing nearly 500 career kills as a Roadrunner. She posted 59 aces her sophomore year and 98 blocks as a freshman. She was named the team’s 2011 Offensive Player of the Year. Prior to college, Berndt was a four-year standout at Ukiah High School.
Morley, a 5-10 middle out of Chino Hills High School in southern California, collected 130 kills, 58 blocks and 37 aces as a senior while posting an impressive .350 hitting percentage. “Katie is not exactly huge by middle hitter standards, but to get away with that, she’ll rely on her quickness and relentless attitude toward attacking,” Hein said. “We call it ‘making yourself available to your setter,’ and Katie excels at it. She’ll constantly be jumping in transition to give her setter options of where we can go offensively. We anticipate Katie will have a stellar career hitting our quick-tempo slide.”
Uhland, a 5-10 setter, is transferring to Chico State after playing as a freshman for Division I UC Santa Barbara. A native of nearby Browns Valley, she was a four-year varsity starter for East Nicolaus High School, leading the team and the Sacramento Valley League in assists and assists per game three straight years, helping the Spartans win a pair of league titles, two trips to the North Section championships and two state playoff appearances.
“Haley brings some high-level experience to Acker Gym and will provide us with solid competition at setter,” Hein said. “She also brings a little more height that we’ve traditionally had at the setter position, which is by no means a necessity…but clearly never hurts!”
