SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State volleyball team continues to shape its roster for the upcoming season after head coach Brent Hilliard announced the recent addition of defensive specialists Brooklynn Hill and Nadia Barcklay, who will be eligible to compete for the Aztecs this fall.
Following a stellar prep career at Rancho Cucamonga (Calif.) High School, Hill played 13 matches in two seasons at perennial national power Penn State before transferring to The Mesa, while Barcklay was a three-year varsity standout at Hillsdale High in San Mateo.
Hill was part of a winning tradition at RCHS, leading her squad to three straight Baseline League championships, as the Cougars compiled a 29-1 conference record from 2015-17 to go with a trio of appearances in the CIF Southern Section playoffs, including a semifinal berth during her sophomore campaign.
As a prep, Hill racked up 1,166 digs for her career (12.3/match, 4.3/set) and served up 146 aces, according to MaxPreps, earning all-Baseline League honors three times to go with second-team all-area distinction from the Daily Bulletin in 2016. In addition, she was voted her squad's Most Valuable Player and Defensive Player of the Year on three occasions and was named a PrepVolleyball Breakthrough Player in 2015.
A versatile athlete, Hill won two letters as a shot putter for the RCHS track and field team and excelled in the classroom as well, landing a spot on the principal's honor roll all four years. Her older sister Phallynn Hill was also a Division I volleyball player at UNLV (2015) and Rutgers (2016-17).
Barcklay, meanwhile, was a two-time all-conference selection at Hillsdale High, garnering first-team accolades as a junior in 2018 to go with team MVP honors. That season, she led the Fighting Knights with an average of 24.6 digs per match (541 total; 7.7/set), surpassing 30 scoops in seven outings, including a career-high 50 in a four-set victory over Gunn High, according to MaxPreps.
In 2017, Barcklay helped Hillsdale High capture the Peninsula-Ocean League championship with a 14-0 conference record, as the Knights advanced to the semifinals of the CIF Central Coast Section Division 3 playoffs.
San Diego State returns nine letterwinners from last year's squad that finished with a 15-14 overall record, which marked the program's sixth winning season in the last nine years.