Nov. 18, 2002
The Missouri Tiger volleyball team has signed four high school standouts to National Letters of Intent, as announced by MU Head Coach Susan Kreklow and Associate Head Coach Wayne Kreklow on Monday.
Kijuana Sherrod of Blue Springs (Mo.) High School, Melissa Allbery of Gretna (Neb.) High School, Nicole Wilson of Lincoln (Neb.) Christian High School and Jessica Vander Kooi of Hinton (Iowa) High School will join the Tigers next fall after signing their NLI's to attend Mizzou.
Sherrod is a two-time All-Conference First Team selection from Blue Springs High School. She was also selected to the first team at the All-District tournament this season. As a senior, Sherrod led her team with 286 kills for a 3.9 kills per game average. She finished with a .529 hitting percentage, 109 blocks and 119 digs.
Allbery attended Omaha Christian High School for three seasons, before transferring to Grenta High for her senior season. She set a school record for hitting percentage (.461) in a season as a senior. She also recorded 245 kills, 161 digs and 33 aces. Allerby hit .416 for her career, with 605 kills, 410 digs and 102 aces.
Wilson led Lincoln Christian High in kills per game with a 5.97 average and had a team-leading 430 kills. She also led the team with 183 digs for an average of 2.54 digs per game and she finished the season with a team-high 63 services aces.
Vander Kooi was a unanimous selection to the All-Conference team for the second straight year this season. She holds the school record for kills in a season after recording 388 last season, breaking the previous record which she set as a junior. Vander Kooi led her team in kills (388), blocks (157) and digs (259) this season.
"We are very excited about the incoming class and the athleticism and talent that it will bring to our team," Susan Kreklow said. "Each of the newcomers will be a valuable addition to our team, both on the court and off, and we look forward to them joining us next fall."
Student Sports Magazine recently ranked Mizzou's recruiting class as the fifth best in the nation behind only Texas, UCLA, Arizona and Long Beach State. The magazine says that MU's class "may be the most athletic of all classes."