July 25, 2011
RUSTON, La. - Head Coach, Matt Sonnichsen, has added 10 newcomers to this year's roster as Louisiana Tech will welcome freshmen Bridget Benditz, Maria Coelho, Paige Cooper, Regan Himmelberg, Carly Pogson, Shelbie Reed, Ana Rodriguez and Anne Marie Taylor along with junior college transfers Marcella Braz of Midland College and Stephany Salas of Lee College to this year's team.
"We had graduated a large senior class last year so we had some definite needs to fill," Sonnichsen said. "We were very fortunate because we have attracted some additional talent to the program to kind of fill in parts of the puzzle that we were missing."
Benditz joins the team from Klein Oak High School in Houston, Texas. She lettered all four years and was named first team All-District 13-5A for three consecutive years. Also a Texas native, Himmelberg was a three-time letterwinner and finished 79th in the Prep Volleyball Top 100 Century Club High School Rankings during her time at Grapevine High School in Colleyville.
Cooper, a Denver, Colorado native, prepped at Highlands Ranch High School where she was a three-time letterwinner and named to the all-state second team as a senior.
Rodriguez and Coelho both played in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Coelho gained valuable experience playing at the Minas Tenis Clube as well as participating in the Brazilian Championship in 2010, while Rodriguez prepped at Colegio Metodo.
Pogson and Reed, both local newcomers, join the team from their respective cities in Louisiana. Pogson, of Loyola College Prep in Shreveport was named all-district first Team as well as all-district MVP both her junior and senior years. Reed, who prepped at Alfred M. Barbe High School in Lake Charles was named to the all-district team as a junior and senior along with earning district MVP honors in 2010.
A Sherman Oaks, California native, Taylor prepped at Notre Dame High School while gaining valuable experience as a member of the Club Troy volleyball club that finished 11th in all of southern California.
Braz, a junior transfer from Midland College, was named MVP in 2010 and was instrumental in the team winning their conference. Also a junior transfer, Salas will be joining the Lady Techsters from Lee College where she broke three all-time single season individual performance records.
With an influx to new student-athletes, Sonnichsen expects the added depth to increase intensity in practice and solve fatigue issues seen during long weekends of competition.
"We're going to be able to practice a lot better this year," said Sonnichsen. "We're going to be able to survive the longer weekends of competition better than we did last year because of less wear and tear on the student- athletes"
Even with a full roster, Sonnichsen anticipates each newcomer will have a role on this year's team.
"We are going to have to blend in 10 new players and those new players will all have an impact, whether it's in practice, whether it's two rotations or starters," said Sonnichsen.
The Lady Techsters will open the season on August 26th, where they will begin play in the Sam Houston Invitational in Huntsville, Texas.
For complete coverage of Techster Volleyball, please visit the official home of Louisiana Tech Athletics at LATechSports.com and follow sports information contact, Kristen Rodgers, on twitter for the latest and most current news.
