BURTON’S COUFAL AMONG DOZEN SIGNEES TO BUC VOLLEYBALL

Twelve to join Blinn College volleyball class

Incoming freshmen make up signing class

Head coach Terry Gamble has announced the Blinn College volleyball team’s incoming freshman class for Fall 2020.

The class consists of Kyndal Coufal (Burton), Yaretzi Elivett Ortiz (Laredo), Charde Vanzandt (Crosby), Jayde Shelton (Menifee, Calif.), Lixai Perez Velez (Bayamon, Puerto Rico), Emily Smajstrla (Pearland), Ashley Taylor (Yoakum), Savannah Jordon Sebek (Temple), Kayla Munoz (Austin), Ashley Acuna (San Antonio), Megan Kessler (Sweeny) and Sophia Johnson (Royse City).

“We did a great job of finding athletes who fit our system and our program, and are really good volleyball players,” Gamble said. “This is a great group of girls who want to be successful and are very athletic, so we are excited to see what they do on the court this fall.”

Coufal is an outside hitter from Burton High School, where she was named Co-MVP of District 26-2A. She was named to the UIL State Volleyball Championships All-Tournament team and earned Texas Sports Writer Association Class 2A first-team all-state honors.

Elivett Ortiz is an outside hitter from Lyndon B. Johnson High School, where she was named the all-city Hitter of the Year and District-6A MVP.

Vanzandt is a middle blocker from Crosby High School. She was named the offensive MVP as a junior and earned first-team all-district honors.

Shelton is a right side hitter who set five volleyball records at Paloma Valley High School, including most blocks in a career, most blocks in a season, most blocks in a match, most blocks in a set, and most games played. She earned first-team all-California Interscholastic Federation honors as a senior and second-team all-league honors as a sophomore and junior.

Perez Velez is a libero and defensive specialist from Academia Discipulos de Cristo, where she was named the MVP as a junior and was an all-star in Copa Angel Totin Matos in 2017.

Smajstrla is a defensive specialist and libero from Pearland High School. She was named the defensive MVP and earned second-team all-district honors as a senior.

Taylor, a middle blocker, was named the C0-MVP at Yoakum High School as a senior.

Jordon Sebek is a setter from Troy High School. She was named the district MVP and earned first-team Super CenTex honors as a senior. She was named the district’s  Setter of the Year as a junior and earned first-team all-district honors as a sophomore.

Munoz is a defensive specialist and setter from Akins High School. She was named the team’s MVP and twice earned all-district honors.

Acuna is a defensive specialist and libero who was team captain at Smithson Valley High School. She surpassed 1,000 career digs and broke the school record for most digs in a game. During her high school career, she was named the team MVP and earned first team-district and all-tournament honors.

Kessler is a middle blocker from Sweeny High School. In 2016, she was named the district’s Newcomer of the Year. She earned all-district and all-county honors, and was named the district’s offensive MVP as a junior and the district MVP and all-Southern County MVP as a senior.

Johnson is a right side hitter who earned Newcomer of the Year at Royse City High School.

For more information, visit www.buccaneersports.com.

(COURTESY: Tara Dreyer, Blinn Inforation)