San Diego State Head Volleyball coach Deitre Collins-Parker has announced the signing of three athletes to National Letters of Intent. The three players will join the program as freshmen for the 2013 campaign.
Cassie O'Hara is a 6-4 middle blocker currently attending Victor High School in Victor, N.Y. a suburb of Rochester. As a senior this year she averaged 3.6 kills per set with a .361 hitting percentage and a .473 kill percentage. She also averaged 0.6 service aces, 0.5 blocks and 1.0 digs per game. During her prep career she was a District II All-Star selection and was named one of the nation's top Volleyball Varsity Sophomores by prepvolleyball.com. She has played for the Paradigm Volleyball Club the past year after spending time as a member of the VolleyFX volleyball club in Rochester where she earned player-of-the-week honors during her time with that organization.
"At 6'4", Cassie O'Hara adds more height to the middle blocker position for us," commented Collins-Parker. "She is an effective attacker with a great blocking presence. We look for Cassie to become a dominant player in the middle position."
Alexis Cage is a 6-2 outside hitter from Newport Beach, Calif., where she attends Corona del Mar High School. She is the daughter of former San Diego State all-American basketball player Michael Cage. Cage, who currently competes for the Coast Volleyball Club in San Diego, previously played for the TStreet Volleyball Club in Irvine, Calif., and was a member of the 17's team that captured the bronze medal in the Gold Division at the USA Volleyball Junior National Championships this past July. As a senior at Corona del Mar HS, Cage averaged 1.4 kills and 0.5 digs per set.
"Alexis comes from an athletic family and brings that athleticism to the volleyball court," noted Collins-Parker. "She is a very strong attacker with good all-around ball control skills. She'll add depth to our group of outside hitters and will become a six rotation player for us.
The third signee is Baylee Little, a 6-1 middle blocker from Gilbert, Ariz. During her recently completed senior season, Little led her Highland High School team with 4.9 kills per set along with a .321 hitting percentage and a .482 kill percentage. She also recorded 2.1 digs, 0.9 blocks and 0.5 service aces per set. She earned national MaxPreps/AVCA High School Player of the Week honors for the week of Oct. 22-28 when she averaged 6.09 kills and 2.36 digs per set over three matches. While playing for the Fusion Volleyball Club in Mesa, Ariz., she was a member of the 17 Black team that captured the Arizona Regional Championship earlier this year. Prior to joining the volleyball team at highland HS, Little was a standout basketball player for the Hawks.
"Baylee Little is a phenomenal athlete who is a quick, agile and versatile with a good vertical," said Collins-Parker. "She has the ability to play multiple positions on the court and we expect to use that to our advantage. She is still very young in the game and has a tremendous upside.
"I am so excited about the addition of these three young women. They are talented volleyball players and good students that bring additional height to our roster. They are just the type of athletes we need at State as we step into the competitive Big West Conference in 2013."
San Diego State is winding down its 2012 season with its final two matches of the regular season at New Mexico on Saturday (Nov. 17) and against Nevada at home next Tuesday (Nov. 20). The Aztecs' record currently stands at 21-7 overall and 11-3 in the Mountain West where they are tied atop the league standings.