July 6, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Three of Texas A&M's incoming freshmen volleyball players led their respective club teams to top-10 finishes at the 2009 USA Junior Olympic Girls' Volleyball Championships, which concluded Saturday in Miami Beach, Fla.
Middle Blocker Lindsey Miller (Katy, Texas) highlighted the Aggies' results as she led Texas Tornados 18 Mizuno to an 11-0 record and the 48-team American Gold Division championship title. Texas Tornados, which lost only three sets in the entire five days of competition, overcame a first-set loss to Golden Bear in the final match to capture the championship crown.
Abby Howden's AJV 18 Mizuno team tied for fifth place and Tori Mellinger's Skyline 18 RoShamBo finished 10th in the 28-team Open Division. Last year, Howden (Austin, Texas) and AJV 17 Mizuno defeated future A&M teammate Mellinger (Dallas, Texas) and Skyline RoShamBo in the championship match of the 17 Open Gold Division.
All five of A&M's incoming volleyball players competed in this year's Junior Olympics, the premier event of the club volleyball season. Caitlin Adams (Kansas City, Mo.) represented the Aggies as a member of KC Extreme in the Open Division, and Alisia Kastmo (Tyler, Texas) represented A&M in the 48-team National Division as a member of Sport VB 18 National.
Following the tournament, all five Aggie volleyball newcomers traveled to College Station for the start of the second session of summer school classes, which began today.
The A&M volleyball team officially reports August 9 and begins two-a-day practices on August 10. The Aggies open the season August 28 against Iona at 10 a.m. at Reed Arena.