Nov. 19, 2007

ATHENS, Ohio - Ohio Head Volleyball Coach Geoff Carlston has announced that two student-athletes have signed National Letters of Intent to play volleyball for the Bobcats in 2008.

Carlston received National Letters of Intent from a pair of Illinois high school standouts - 6-foot-2 middle blocker Katie Post from Streamwood, Ill. and 6-foot-1 outside hitter Rachel Hockaday from Decatur, Ill.

Post led Streamwood High School and head coach Kevin Kwon to back-to-back 20 win seasons while recording 320 kills, 52 aces, 180 digs and 43 solo blocks her senior season.

Rated No. 76 in the nation by PrepVolleyball.com, Post also competed for the Mizuno Sports Performance Elite club team, which won the national championship at the Junior Olympics in Atlanta two years ago.

"Katie is an extremely physical player, strong and tough," said Head Coach Geoff Carlston. "Her arm-swing is really fast for her size and she is going to be a really imposing blocker for our team. She is a great addition to our `bigs' and will be trained as a middle and right side player."

Hockaday, a senior at Maroa-Forsyth High School, led her team to a 34-1 record this year and the school's first appearance in the class 2A state tournament semifinals after tallying a 35-2 mark her junior season.

The three-year captain and three-time all-conference first-team selection, Hockaday recorded 535 kills in her senior season, 40 in one match, and holds the all-time record for kills in program history. She earned an all-state honorable mention in 2006 and was twice named to the All-Macon County First-Team.

"Rachel is a very gifted all around player," said Carlston. "She will bring some great ball control all around and is extremely quick on the floor. At 6'1", she is able to play both the outside hitter and right side hitter positions and will be fun to train."

Hockaday played for the Illini Elite Volleyball Club, where she served as captain for all four season and earned First-Team All-American honors in 2006 at Nationals.

"Both student-athletes are not only motivated in the gym, but also in the classroom, which is something we really look for in our players," said Carlston.

The Bobcats will lose three seniors from this season's team, including the all-time kills leader, middle blocker Melissa Griffin, and the first player in school history to ever record over 1,400 kills and 1,600 digs, outside hitter Stephanie Blackburn.