Wake Forest Athletics
Volleyball Signs Four In Fall Recruiting Class
12/1/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Dec. 1, 2003
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.-- The Wake Forest volleyball program has announced the signing of four players who will join the team for the 2004 season. Emily Nedderman (Grapevine, TX), Jackie Lucas (New Braunfels, TX), Jessica Furlong (St. Augustine, FL) and Michael Faulkner (Austin, TX) each signed their letter of intent to become Demon Deacons beginning next fall.
Nedderman, a 5'10 senior at Colleyville Heritage High School and chose to attend Wake Forest over Alabama, Duke, Virginia and TCU. She was named MVP of the 2003 Advantage Sports Invitational and played on the District 5-5A championship team. As a freshman in 2000, Nedderman received district Newcomer of the Year honors.
"Emily is a natural leader, and a vocal instructor on the court," said head coach Valorie Baker. "She exudes confidence that radiates to her teammates. Emily is also a great defensive player and one that will push herself as well as her teammates to accomplish set goals. She will join current sophomore setter Erin Borhart next fall and we feel the combination of these two will be an asset to our program."
Lucas is a 6'0 middle blocker who played on the New Braunfels High School 25-4A Area Championship team in 2003. Her Centex Stars 16's competed at the 2002 National Junior Olympics in Salt Lake City and took home a bronze medal. Lucas was also the only freshman on her 4A Texas State Championship high school team in the year 2000.
"Jackie is a gifted athlete that will be accepting the challenge of developing into a middle hitter," said Baker. "We look for Jackie to come in and expand her game in a short amount of time. The middle position is one of the most difficult positions to which a player must acclimate. We feel Jackie is just the player to step in and become one of the best middles in the ACC."
Furlong, a 6'0 outside hitter at Pedro Menendez High School chose Wake Forest over Ohio State, Central Florida and the University of South Florida. She was a four-year letterwinner on her high school team and also played soccer as a freshman. As a senior, Furlong led her team to a district championship and number two ranking in the state of Florida.
"Jessica is a very physical and versatile player that will bring depth to our program," Baker said. "A natural blocker, she will be great on the right side or the left. We play such strong outside hitting teams that we have to have strength and depth in these positions. We feel that Jessica is an excellent choice and we look forward to watching her develop this spring not only as a blocker, but also as a terminating hitter."
Faulkner will come to Wake Forest from St. Michael's Academy where she led her team to their fourth straight district and state championship this fall. A 5'11 outside hitter, Faulkner was named one of the nation's top 150 seniors by prepvolleyball.com and made Lonestar Volleyball's All-Texas Team for the second consecutive year.
"Michael is such a competitive team player and we are looking forward to having a freshman of her caliber come in and raise our level of play," said Baker. "Michael was one of the top 50 players in the country for the 2004 recruiting class and we expect her to come in and challenge our outside hitters for one of the starting positions next fall."
