Nov. 17, 2010
RUSTON, La. - Louisiana Tech volleyball head coach Matt Sonnichsen announced the Lady Techsters fall signing class Wednesday morning. After signing National Letters of Intent for the 2011-12 academic year last week, Bridget Benditz and Anne Marie Taylor will join the Lady Techsters next season.
"We are very excited to welcome Anne Marie and Bridget to the program. Bridget will give us much needed depth at the left side outside hitter position, and will challenge for playing time immediately. Anne Marie being left handed and with her height, gives us our first natural right side player," said Sonnichsen. "Both players come from very good high school and club volleyball programs, while their fathers played NCAA Division I athletics - Bridget's dad played football at Baylor while Anne Marie's dad played Volleyball at USC."
Benditz, a six-foot outside hitter from Spring, Texas led Klein Oak HS to an impressive 38-3 record this past season including the team's first regional quarterfinal appearance since 2005. Klein Oak was ranked as high as fourth in the state of Texas and 21st in the nation according to MaxPreps.com. The prep standout recorded the fourth-most kills in the nation this past season, 643, while leading the Lady Panthers to their second-straight district 13-5A championship.
As a four-time letterman and 2010 team captain, Benditz was tabbed first team 13-5A all-district three-straight seasons in addition to picking up three-straight academic all-district honors. Benditz was named to the Kingwood and Cy Fair ISD all-tournament teams earlier this season and was cited as the MaxPreps.com Player of the Week on Oct. 25, 2010.
Benditz signed with Louisiana Tech after taking visits to LSU, Cornell and Louisiana-Lafayette.
Taylor, a six-foot-five right side hitter from Sherman Oaks, California tallied a .358 hitting percentage and 2.2 kills per set this past season at Notre Dame HS. Her .358 clip was ranked fifth among student-athletes with at least 234.3 attempts in Division 1AA.
In 2009, Taylor led her club team, SCVC, to Disney Volleyball's Summer Soirée title. The prep standout was also named an all-tournament performer at the MLK tournament. Taylor was cited with all-tournament honors during the high school season at the Peach and Valley Tournament.
In addition to her merits on the volleyball court, as an underclassmen Taylor lettered in basketball at center and was instrumental in leading Notre Dame HS on the hardwood to the school's first ever women's CIS and Mission League title in any sport.
As a four-year Cum Laude scholar, Taylor chose Louisiana Tech after looking at UC Santa Barbara, Northeastern, Gonzaga and Texas State.
"I wanted to take a moment to thank all faculty and staff at Louisiana Tech for their assistance with our recruiting efforts," said Sonnichsen. "Their support empowered a very good 2010 recruiting class with Clara Vido, Caitlin Germany and Emily Maher, and now to bring to campus Benditz and Taylor has laid the foundation for our volleyball program to successfully compete in WAC Volleyball."
Louisiana Tech returns to action Thursday night at 7 p.m. with a home match against Nevada. Prior to Thursday's match all of Tech's senior class will be honored with various senior day festivities.
For complete coverage of Lady Techster volleyball, please visit the official home of Louisiana Tech Athletics at LATechSports.com and follow sports information contact, Austin Staton, on twitter for the latest and most current news.
