Chippewa Volleyball Signs Standout Quartet
11/12/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
 | Lexi Duello • Middle/Outside • 6-1 • Liberty Township, Ohio/ West Chester HS High School: Named to the 2014 Under Armour All-American watch list ... member of the District 16 All-Star team (2014) ... earned All-Conference first team and District 16 "All-City" team honors as a senior ... won the Senior Academic Award for having the highest GPA among seniors and the GMC Academic Award.four-time sectional champion ... led the GMC in kills per game during GMC matches... two-time All-Academic Greater Miami Conference... Queens of the Court All-Tournament Selection (2014) ... two-time district champion ... GMC champion as a sophomore ... voted `Best Player' from ohiohsvb.com (2012 & 2013) ... second team all-GMC selection. | ||
 | Marissa Grant • Setter • 5-11 • Antioch, Ill./Antioch Community HS High School: named All-Conference first team for The News Sun (2013) ... named All-Area first team and All-County first team by the Daily Herald (2013) ... led the team in assists and aces ... won Antioch High School's "You Make a Difference Award" three times ... All-Area first team and All-County second team for the Daily Herald (2012) ... earned team MVP honors as a sophomore ... named The News Sun All-Conference first team selection ... led the team in assists, aces, and digs as a sophomore ... All-Conference first team selection by The News Sun and All-Area first team for the Daily Herald as a freshman ... team leader in assists as a freshman ... earned Rookie of the Year honors in track ... earned four letters in volleyball, one in track. | ||
 | Emily Wenglikowski • Defensive Specialist • 5-9 • Leo, Ind./Leo Junior-Senior HS High School: 2014 Allen County Athletic Conference (ACAC) season co-champion ... ACAC tournament champion ... named ACAC first team selection (2013) ... Fort Wayne Journal Gazette Northeast Indiana First Team All-Area as a junior ... named Southwood Tournament MVP (2013) ... owns school record for single-season kills (397) ... ranked in the top 10 in Indiana by VarVee.com for kills per set (4.18) ... earned 2012 ACAC second team honors ... two-time ACAC season co-champion ... ACAC tournament champion (2011) ... four-year letter winner in volleyball. | ||
 | Jamison Wolffis • Libero • 5-9 • East Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids HS High School: Helped East Grand Rapids to a Class A State, regional, district and conference championship (2013) ... received All-State, All-Region and All-Conference honors (2013) ... 2012 conference champions ... won regional, district, and conference championship as a freshman ... two-time team captain ... placed 25th at AAU Nationals (2014), fifth in 2013, ninth in 2012 and fifth in 2011 ... received All-American AAU Nationals Libero honors as a freshman. |
Nov. 12, 2014
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - It's a departure, so to speak, for coach Erik Olson and the Central Michigan volleyball program.
"Sometimes we bring in really great athletes and we have to turn them into volleyball players," Olson said Wednesday as he inked four student-athletes to letters of intent. "I think this is an extremely talented group of volleyball players."
The class comprises setter Marissa Grant of Antioch, Ill.; Emily Wenglikowski of Leo, Ind.; Lexi Duello of Liberty Township, Ohio; and Jamison Wolffis of East Grand Rapids, Mich.
"I think that each member of this class has the ability to challenge for court time immediately, and they're all competitive and talented," Olson said. "I see these guys as pushers. We don't have any projects in this class and it's one of our most versatile classes; everyone has played multiple positions. They're used to winning."
The additions of Wenglikowski (defensive specialist) and Wolffis (libero) will help the Chippewas shore up their defense, a timely need in light of the fact that three of CMU's four current defensive specialists will be seniors next season.
Grant, a setter, is a standout all-around athlete, while Duello is a versatile middle/outside hitter who possesses the talent and experience to play anywhere on the court, Olson said.
"You don't know these things until you get them in the gym, how they're going to compete," he said. "These young ones, I think, are going to challenge the veterans right away. Getting a young athletic setter in the gym will be exciting. It's going to help the position grow, and Duello is going to help us wherever we need her."
Grant, 5-foot-11, has led her Antioch High School team in assists and aces the past two years. She will join current freshman Kylie Copple in giving CMU a highly skilled, athletic and explosive setting corps beginning in 2015.
"Marissa, I believe, is one of the hidden gems in the nation," Olson said. "She's an extremely athletic setter. She has the ability to attack across the front row and she's a very good defensive setter with really good instincts and I think she has a nice command on the court.
"I think we're going to have two really good setters on the roster, and both of them have the ability to attack out of the front row. When you add good setters, that just brings the whole group up."
Duello is a product of Lakota West High School in West Chester, Ohio, and, while still just a high school senior, brings a decade of highly competitive club volleyball experience to Mount Pleasant.
"We're losing a giant outside hitter in (senior Kaitlyn) McIntyre this year," Olson said. "Lexi's 6-foot-1, brings some good size to the position. She could challenge as an outside as a freshman, but she's certainly going to challenge wherever we think that she needs to go, middle or right."
Duello was named a 2015 Senior Ace by prepvolleyball.com, meaning she is one of the top 250 recruits in the nation.
"Lexi is someone who I think is going to find a way, some how, to get on the floor for us," Olson said.
Wenglikowski, 5-9, broke the Leo High School record with 397 kills last season and is a two-time Allen County Athletic Conference First Team selection.
"She's a high-energy defensive specialist," Olson said. "She's just a phenomenal person. There's just an aura around her. She just brings energy and she's a leader.
"She's got a really good volleyball IQ and she's 5-foot-9, so she's got really good length as a defensive specialist and she's also been playing on one of the top club teams (Fort Wayne Volleyball Club) in the country.
"She's used to winning and she knows what the expectations are. I think she's one of those types of player who, down the road, I'll probably call `glue.'"
Wolffis, who was named in 2014 a Senior Ace and a Defensive Dandy by prepvolleyball.com, possess all the tools required of a libero: quickness, athleticism, ballhandling skills and instincts.
Her presence will help strengthen a position at which Kristen Reenders has excelled this season, establishing herself as one of the top liberos in the MAC.
"Generally our liberos start off as a defensive specialist and earn their way into the libero position," Olson said. "I think Jamie could go libero from day one.
"She's been playing for a long time which usually translates into a great volleyball IQ. She just gets the game. I think putting her into our system, she's going to really flourish."
