Defending champ volleyball team adds three signees to ’09 roster
Defending Ohio Valley Conference volleyball champion Tennessee Tech has added three more signees to its 2009 roster, inking Heather Asplund from Illinois, Katrina Dvorken of New Jersey, and Kelsey Gray from Ohio.
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Defending Ohio Valley Conference
volleyball champion Tennessee Tech has added three more signees to
its 2009 roster, head coach John Blair announced this week.
The three newest Golden Eagle signees are Heather Asplund from
Winnebago (Ill.) High School, Katrina Dvorken of Ridgewood (N.J.)
High School, and Kelsey Gray from Newark (Ohio) High School.
A week ago, Blair and softball coach Tory Acheson jointly
announced the signing of Stacey Butts from Greenfield, Wis., who
will compete in both sports for the Golden Eagles.
“These women will come in and make an immediate impact on
the team,” Blair said. “They have many years of playing
experience that will make the transition from high school to
college easier.
“This is a solid class, and we’ve filled the holes we
needed to fill,” Blair said.
A 6-foot outside hitter, Heather Asplund is the
sister of recent Tech standout Jessica Asplund, and the daughter of
Wayne and Debbie Asplund. She plans to study psychology.
A three-year starter for coach Brian Lunden at Winnebago High
School, she was a unanimous pick for all-conference honors in her
freshman, junior and senior seasons, and earned all-state selection
as a junior.
As a senior, she collected 275 kills, 257 digs, 52 aces and a
hitting percentage at .428. During her career, she served up 113
aces and had more than 500 kills and 500 assists.
“Heather is an outside hitter with a very strong skill
set,” said Blair. “She’s very efficient and a
powerful attacker. She should catch up to the speed of the college
game quickly and make an early contribution.”
Katrina Dvorken is a 6-foot-3 middle blocker out
of Ridgewood High School who plans to major in health sciences. She
is the daughter of Greg and Josie Dvorken, who both competed in
athletics in college.
She was a three-year starter for her high school team, serving as
team captain her final two years. Among the highlights of her club
career with Team Digs, she helped with the GEVA Regional
Championship and participated in the U.S. Junior Olympic
Championships.
“We first saw Katrina with her club team in one of the
national qualifiers,” Blair said. “We liked her size
and her aggressiveness. She has good basic mechanics, and we really
feel she has a huge ‘upside’ and a chance to become an
outstanding player on a regional level.
“She came for a visit and fell in love with Tennessee
Tech,” he said. “She’s a strong blocker and she
will shore up our defense at the net. She can be an immediate
presence with her net play.”
A four-year starter for coach Ruth Sunkle at Newark High School,
Kelsey Gray earned several awards as a middle
blocker. The daughter of Raymond Gray and Deidre Walter, she plans
to major in business. A member of the All-Ohio Capital Conference
team four years in a row, the 6-foot-2 Gray was named team’s
Most Valuable Player during her junior and senior seasons.
“We also saw Kelsey with her club team, the Central Ohio
Volleyball Club, at a National Qualifier, “ Blair said.
“We’ve had several players from that team, such as Anne
Morrow, and we know they get excellent coaching and will come to
Tech with solid fundamentals. Kelsey is an excellent student and
she should be an immediate presence, both on offense and on defense
at the net.”
