Haylee Mathis To Play Volleyball For Washington State

The Washington State University volleyball program's 2013 class of six freshmen earned national accolades as the 14th-best nationally according to PrepVolleyball. com's annual rankings. That class proved to be essential components to the Cougars' 18-win season, the most wins since 2009.

Kyra Holt was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) 2013 Pacific North Region Freshman of the Year and was an All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention team selection as well as a Pac-12 All-Freshman team selection. She led the Cougars with 3.89 kills per set avg. and 4.53 points per set avg., both seventh-best in Pac-12. Two other freshmen, Emmy Allen, a 6-2 outside hitter from Mill Creek, Wash., and Hailey Bethune, a 6-0 right side from Stockton, Calif., were honored with selections to the Pac-12 All- Freshman Honorable Mention team. Allen and Bethune were major contributors in WSU's five wins over opponents with top 50 RPIs.

VETERAN RETURNEES

WSU's roster for spring and fall 2014 is laden with talent and experienced letterwinners: Kate Sommer (5-4, SO, Libero, Pacific Palisades, Calif.) - 4.02 dps average led team and was eighth-best in Pac-12...36 digs in a match is the second-most in WSU all-time records and tied for most in Pac-12 in 2013... holds two spots on WSU's single season digs records - 495 digs in 2013 is fifth-best and 459 digs in 2012 is seventh-best... also listed twice on single season digs per set list - 4.06 dpg 2012 is sixth and 4.02 dps in 2013 is seventh...954 career digs is 10th-best in WSU all-time...4.04 dps career average is fourthbest in WSU all-time records.

Ver'Leea Hardaway (6-1, JR, MB, Mission Viejo, Calif.) - led the team and 10th in Pac-12 with .336 hitting percentage... in 2013 season was MVP of Cougar Challenge and Cougar Invite... named to Army Black Knights Invite and Sam Houston State all-tournament teams... vs. Seattle U hit .733 (12-1 15) - best hitting percentage in Pac-12 this season... season hpct of .336 is fourth-best in WSU single season all-time records... career .297 hpct is fourth-best at WSU.

Jaicee Harris (5-11, JR, OH, Chelan, Wash.) - selected to the 2012 All-Pac-12 honorable mention team... in 2013 named to Cougar Challenge and Cougar Invite all-tournament teams... second on team with 3.18 digs per set average...2.24 kps and 2.45 pps were third-best among starters... tallied eight double-doubles this year...2012 total of 1,386 attacks is 2nd in WSU's single season all-time records...2,861 career attack attempts ninth-most on WSU's all-time list.

ABOUT THE COUGAR VOLLEYBALL NEWCOMERS

WSU volleyball welcomes three newcomers to the Fall 2014 team: Haylee Mathis, a 5-11 setter from Strasburg, Ill., Casey Schoenlein, a 6-5 outside hitter from Issaquah, Wash., and Arlicia Ortiz, a 5-4 defensive specialist from Spanaway, Wash... Haylee Mathis began classes at WSU in January after an early high school graduation... she has been conditioning and practicing with the Cougars already this winter.

Haylee Mathis - 5-11 setter, from Strasburg, Ill... a four-year varsity starter on St. Anthony High School volleyball team... a two-time National Trail Conference MVP honoree... four-time all-conference selection... led Bulldogs volleyball team to four NTC championships... in 2013 St. Anthony advanced to Illinois Super Sectionals - the Elite Eight for the state... named to Illinois State honorable mention team as a sophomore... tabbed PrepVolleyball. com Sophomore 79... named to Decatur Area Best 2012 team... was selected to the 2012 USA Volleyball High Performance Girls Select Continental team, the 2013 USA Volleyball High Performance Girls Youth A1 National team, and named to the 2013 USA Volleyball High Performance All- Tournament team... been on Honor Roll all four years.

Casey Schoenlein - 6-5 OH from Issaquah, Wash... highly-honored senior at Newport High School of Bellevue... four-year All-KingCo 4A volleyball selection... two-time league MVP.... led Knights volleyball team to three consecutive league titles and four consecutive state 4A Championship tournaments. .. twice earned individual Sportsmanship Award at state volleyball tournaments... Newport had four consecutive state tournament appearances, finishing fourth in 2013... selected to Seattle Times 2012 All-Area Volleyball Team... summer of 2011 won first place qualifier for the USA Junior Beach Tour... was PrepVolleyball. com's Top 50 Junior Recruits for 2012 and is No. 58 on the PrepVolleyball. com's 2013 Senior Aces list... attended USA Volleyball A2 High Performance Camp last summer... versatile athlete - was two-time all-league selection in basketball... was member of 2012 state champion water polo team and was named to the allstate first team... also high achiever in classroom with 3.93 grade point average.

Arlicia Ortiz - 5-4 DS from Spanaway, Wash... three-year letterwinner at Spanaway Lake HS... Puget Sound Volleyball club team won U14 Open Pacific Northwest Qualifier, U15 Club Pacific Northwest Qualifier... U17 Puget Sound Volleyball club, coached by former WSU All-America setter Stephanie Papke, won National Patriot's Division National Championship... third year on Puget Sound High Performance squad placed third at USA Volleyball High Performance Championships... two-time South Puget Sound League volleyball honorable mention selection... also finished seventh in 100m dash at 2013 state 4A Track Championships... team's MPV... three-year member of National Honor Society... accorded the WSU SHAPING Certificate of Excellence... ASB Vice President... Sentinels volleyball team played in 2013 state 4A Championship tournament for the first time in 10 years.

COUGARS FALL 2014 SCHEDULE

Washington State volleyball opens the 2014 season at the Montana Invitational, Aug. 29-30 in Missoula... the following two weekends the Cougars will compete at tournaments at Notre Dame and at Middle Tennesse State (Murfreesboro, Tenn.)... WSU hosts the Cougar Challenge Sept. 19-20, with Idaho, Portland State and Loyola Marymount coming to Bohler Gym... the Pac-12 schedule, yet to be announced, begins action the following week.