USU signing day roundup: soccer, volleyball building programs up

on November 19, 2020 at 2:14 pm

As is true every year, signing day brings a deluge of new names that Utah State sports fans need to learn. The men’s basketball team, who enjoy the largest spotlight, only announced one new signing for the class of 2021, Cedar City forward Dallin Grant. But many of the women’s sports added significantly more. Between the gymnastics, soccer, volleyball and softball programs, 24 women are set to join the Aggie family in 2021.

Here is a breakdown of the four women’s sports and their respective recruits.

Soccer

Addi Coon (Defender) — Pleasant Grove, Utah (Pleasant Grove High School)
- No stats available
Bizzy Arevalo (Attacking Wing/Midfielder) — Logan, Utah (Davis High School)
- 47 goals | 47 assists
Brooke Watkins (Goalkeeper) — Hyde Park, Utah (Green Canyon High School)
- 30.5 Shutouts
Grace Nicol (Midfielder) — Layton, Utah (Davis High School)
- 45 goals | 45 assists
Kaitlyn Richins (Midfielder) — Layton, Utah (Layton High School)
- 12 goals (just senior season)
Tenzi Knowles (Midfielder) — Providence, Utah (Ridgeline High School)
- No complete stats available

Photo by Iain Laurence

All six of Heather Cairns’ recruits come from Utah and three won’t even have to leave Cache Valley to play soccer. Bizzy Arevalo starred for Logan High School for two seasons before spending a year at Davis High School, the premiere prep girls soccer school in the state. Brooke Watkins and Tenzi Knowles come out of Green Canyon and Ridgeline High School, respectively. Watkins played goalkeeper as part of a very stingy defense that allowed just 0.49 goals per game her junior and senior seasons. Knowles was an integral part of back-to-back 4A championship appearances by the Riverhawks, winning the title this past season.

The Aggies’ primary issue on the pitch the past two seasons has been an inability to consistently score goals. They’ve scored just 36 goals (0.97 per game) the past two seasons. The addition of goal-scorers like Arevalo and her Davis teammate, Grace Nicol, could help improve their offense going forward.

Volleyball

Katie Langford (6’3″ Middle Blocker) — Santa Clara, Utah (Snow Canyon High School)
- 299 Sets Played | 268 Blocks | 1,056 Kills | .264 Hit %
Haley McUne (5’9″ Libero) — Amalga, Utah (Sky View High School)
- 298 SP | 1,073 Digs | 72 Assists | 185 Service Aces
Adna Mehmedovic (6’1″ Outside Hitter) — Peoria, Ariz. (Sunrise Mountain High School)
- 240 SP | 789 Kills | .235 Hit %
Kaylie Ray (6’0″ Outside Hitter) — Chandler, Ariz. (Chandler High School)
- 236 SP | 662 Kills | .170 Hit % (.253 in senior season)
Beatriz Rodrigues (Setter) — Lisbon, Portugal (Escola Secundária de Miraflores)
- No stats available
Kalia Thunstrom (5’8″ Setter) — Murrieta, Calif. (Murrieta Mesa High School)
- 925 assists | 288 Digs (Senior season cancelled)
Bella Wooden (6’3″ Middle Blocker) — Summerfield, N.C. (Northern Guilford High School)
- 93 SP | 61 Blocks | 167 Kills | .248 Hit %

Photo by Iain Laurence

First-year head coach Rob Neilson now has his first recruiting class which will hopefully drive the program out of a major two-year slump where the Aggies have won just seven games and went 2-28 in 2019.

“The focus in this recruiting class is to add depth, talent, competitive drive and positional flexibility,” Neilson said in a press release. “Our coaches have done amazing work to find players from all over the country and world that will move our program towards the vision we have for our future. These recruits are confident, capable, amazing women that will push our culture and training environment to the next level. Aggies are on the rise.”

This recruiting class brings in some size with two 6-foot-3 blockers in Langford and Wooden. Langford appears to have some of the positional flexibility Neilson mentioned, owning both the best blocking numbers and the highest hit percentage of the class. Kalia Thunstrom likewise has multiple positions she could play as either a setter or libero.

Softball

Emily Dority (Pitcher, First Base) — South Jordan, Utah (Bingham High School)
- 30 APP | 7-8 record | 3.36 ERA | 161 PA .431 BA (.557 OBP, .804 SLG, 1.362 OPS) | 8 HR | 39 RBI
Taryn Edds (Catcher) — Anaheim, Calif. (John F. Kennedy High School)
- No full-season or career stats available
Gisele “Gigi” Gonzalez | Infielder | San Diego, Calif. | Mater Dei Catholic High School
- 176 PA | .292 BA (.402 OBP, .479 SLG, .881 OPS) | 5 HR | 28 RBI
Ariel Lopez (Infielder) — San Marcos, Calif. (Mission Hills High School)
- 275 PA | .354 BA (.436 OBP, .655 SLG, 1.091 OPS) | 13 HR | 67 RBI
Claudia Medina (Infielder/Outfielder) — West Sacramento, Calif. (River City High School)
- 170 PA | .491 BA (.521 OBP, .911 SLG, 1.433 OPS) | 11 HR | 56 RBI
Claire Raley (Third Base/Outfield) — Clovis, Calif. (Buchanan High School)
- 70 PA | .339 BA (.397 OBP, .629 SLG, 1.026 OPS) | 1 HR | 16 RBI

Steve Johnson’s latest signing class is ranked 89th among the nearly 300 Division I softball programs by Extra Inning Softball. It’s the fourth straight season Johnson has had a class ranked in the top 90. Additionally, Medina is the No. 69 overall recruit according the same outlet and Lopez is No. 233. Recruits from California are an obvious theme and that’s hardly a bad thing given how much softball talent is present in the Golden State.

“Overall, this is a tremendously deep and versatile class for us,” Johnson said. “Not only does this class address all of our position needs, but everyone plays multiple positions, so we’ll have a lot of flexibility with our lineup. We have been watching this class for a long time, many since they were eighth graders, and they are all tremendous athletes who will contribute to our program right away. In addition to being great ball players, everyone in this class has outstanding character with great families who support them and will fit well into our culture here at Utah State.”

Last season’s team was largely led by its youth and these incoming recruits should bolster a squad that already has potential in the hitting and pitching departments for the next 2-3 years.

Gymnastics

Molly Arnold — Bloomington, Minn. (Twin City Twisters)
Trinity Brown — Upper Marlboro, Md. (Docksiders Gymnastics)
Brie Clark — Daphne, Ala. (Planet Gymnastics)
Kielyn McCright — Boca Raton, Fla. (American Twisters)
Brooke Wilson — Flower Mound, Texas (Metroplex Gymnastics)

Utah State Women’s Gymnastics meet versus Alaska, Saturday February 22, 2019.

If you’re looking for a reason why these gymnasts chose Utah State, the beautiful and comforting Logan campus seems to be the most common denominator among the five recruits. In a press release from the USU athletics department, Arnold, Brown and Wilson were quoted specifically citing the campus as one of several things that drew them to becoming an Aggie. Clark and McCright both loved Utah State for its academic opportunities and the gymnastics program as a whole.

Head coach Amy Smith has built something special in her time as coach and was rewarded for her efforts with a banner 2020 season that was unfortunately cut short before the team could accomplish many of the things it was fully capable of. However, quite a few players from the historically great run over the last couple of years will be leaving soon and these incoming recruits will need to fill in the gaps.

“We are losing seven event routines next year and this incoming freshman class is so strong in that area with Brie, Molly and Trinity all training and competing E-level tumbling passes, as well as those three all training 10 start values on vault.” Smith said. “Additionally, all five of these young women are excellent students and will continue the academic excellence that we have been building with our program. Each of these young women make us incredibly excited about the future of Utah State gymnastics.”