Jayhawks Sign Garlington & Kaiser
Nov. 9, 2006
LAWRENCE, Kan. –
University of Kansas head volleyball coach Ray Bechard announced Thursday the signing of outside hitters Karina Garlington (Denver, Colo.) and Jenna Kaiser (Wichita, Kan.) to National Letters of Intent. Garlington, a senior at Grandview High School, and Kaiser, a product of Kapaun Mt. Carmel, will join the Jayhawks in 2007.
“Karina is an outside hitter who has the opportunity to impact the match in all six rotations,” Bechard said. “She will be an attacker, a very effective front row blocker and have very good serving, passing and digging skills which will allow her to contribute early.”
Garlington hails from Grandview High, which entered the season ranked 16th in the nation by PrepVolleyball.com. The highly-touted program was favored to win the state title in 2006 after three consecutive state championships.
Garlington is also a member of the nationally prominent Front Range Volleyball Club. She helped Front Range to the Girl’s 16 National Open Tournament Gold Division Championship in 2005-06 and traveled with the club to Slovenia to play the Croatian Junior National team. In addition to her volleyball talents, Garlington is an all-state diver.
A 6-0 hitter and six-rotation player, Kaiser is one of the top prospects in the state of Kansas. In addition to earning 5A first-team all-state and all-metro volleyball honors in 2005 and 2006, Kaiser was also member of the Shock Wave volleyball club and third team all-class 5A in basketball. Kaiser also competed with the 2006 USA Volleyball Junior National A-2 Training Team last summer in Florida.
“Jenna is a very physical attacker,” Bechard commented. “She hits a very heavy ball and brings an element of all six rotations. She has great platform skills and is a very versatile player. Her time with the national junior training team is great experience in addition to her successful high school and club ball.”
Kansas will lose five seniors — including starters Jana Correa, Jamie Mathewson and Megan Hill — to graduation this season. The Jayhawks return to Big 12 Conference action Nov. 15 at Baylor.
– KU –
