Golden Eagles Add Trio Of Prep Stars
11/19/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 19, 2009
PODCAST
MILWAUKEE - Head coach Bond Shymansky has announced the signing of Emma Brydels (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville H.S.), Courtney Mrotek (Manitowoc, Wis./Lincoln H.S.) and Casey Read (Chatham, N.J./Chatham H.S.) to a National Letter of Intent. All three will arrive at Marquette in the summer of 2010 and have four years of eligibility remaining.
Each was named to the 2009-10 Under Armour Girls' High School All-America Watch List earlier this year by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA).
"We have a great class coming in for 2010, giving us a little more stability and a little more depth at a lot of our positions," head coach Bond Shymansky said. "All of these players are very competitive athletes in addition to being very gifted and good students. We feel like we added a lot of balance to the class, bringing in a setter, an outside hitter and a middle hitter. It was a great first class for us."
Brydels, after earning team MVP honors each of the last two seasons at Oakville High School, will come to Marquette as the heir apparent to junior Nikki Klingsporn at the setter position.
"Emma is a 5-foot-10 left hander and a very versatile setter. She is going to be really good and we are really counting on her learning a lot behind Nikki Klingsporn. Emma is part of the big-picture future of our program," Shymansky said.
As the setter at Oakville in 2009, Brydels averaged 5.79 assist per set, recording a total of 544 on the season. In addition to playing setter, Brydels saw time at right-side hitter, averaging 3.05 kills per set (287 total kills) with a .344 hitting percentage.
Brydels led the Tigers to a 27-8-3 record in 2009 and a second-place finish in district play after taking home to the district crown in 2008 for the first time in 20 years.
While earning mention on the AVCA/Under Armor Watch List, Brydels was also named all-district and all-conference in 2008 and 2009. Brydels earned second team all-region honors in 2009.
Mrotek comes to Marquette after earning Fox River Classic Conference Player of the Year awards in both 2007 and 2008. She was also named as an honorable mention selection on the Wisconsin Volleyball Coaches Association All-State teams in 2007 and 2009 and was a third team honoree in 2008.
"Courtney is incredibly dynamic, just really pounds the ball. She is very fast, jumps very high and is super agressive."
In addition to all-conference and all-state accolades, the 5-foot-11 middle hitter was named to the all-area team her final three seasons, while helping Lincoln to three-straight undefeated conference campaigns. Lincoln captured regional championships from 2007-09, while Mrotek helped the Ships advance to the WIAA Division I state semifinals in 2009.
Mrotek recorded a career-high 287 kills and 164 blocks in 2007 and followed that up with 171 kills and 116 blocks in 2008.
Read, an outside hitter from Chatham, N.J., was named to the PrepVolleyball.com Top 250 Senior Aces list and was ranked by the website throughout her tenure at Chatham High School.
As a freshman, Read was named as one of 10 finalists for the national freshman of the year award in addition to being ranked as one of the nation's top players as both a freshman and a sophomore. Read was named the Newark Star-Ledger Freshman of the Year after her initial campaign at Chatham.
While at in high school, Read garnered first-team all-conference honors all four years and was named first team all-county and all-area each year. During her time at Chatham, she helped the Cougars compile a 98-11 record.
Read was also a three time all-state selection and named the squad's most valuable player as a sophomore and senior. At Chatham, Read played with three other student-athletes now playing collegiate volleyball, including Marika Racibarskas, a freshman setter at Penn State.
A National Honor Society and National French Honor Society member, Read played her club volleyball with the Synergy Volleyball Club in King of Prussia, Pa., a two hour drive from her home in New Jersey.
"Casey Read is coming all the way from New Jersey, which is one of the great things four our program, being able to expand our recruiting base a little bit," Shymansky said. "Casey is a great all-around player who knows how to win and is super competitive."
