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The University of Utah Athletics
Position Breakdown: Outside Hitters
8/14/2019 11:31 AM | Volleyball
Two All-Americans in the Room Leads a Strong Group
The Utes outside hitter room is led by two All-Americans in juniors Dani Drews and Kenzie Koerber.
Drews is coming off one of the best seasons in program history totaling 522 kills and 322 digs. She was voted onto the Preseason All-Pac-12 Team after an unbelievable sophomore campaign that ended with her being an AVCA Second Team All-American. Drews was just the second Utah player to have over 500 kills in the rally-scoring era.
Along with being named an All-American for the first time, she also earned All-Region and Pac-12 honors for the first time.
Koerber played on the right side and earned honorable mention All-American, All-Region and All-Pac-12 honors.
She was a consistent force on offense and defense finishing the year third on the team in kills with 264 and second on the team in blocks with 108.0.
These two catapulted their sophomore success to making the US Collegiate National Team – Japan with teammate Saige Ka'aha'aina-Torres.
Joining them on the outside is another student-athlete who got valuable international experience by making the Canadian NextGen Team and training with the national team this summer. Lauren Sproule also traveled to Lima, Peru to play in the 2019 Pan American Games for Canada.
Last season, Sproule spent most of the year filling in as middle blocker, so she is very versatile. This year she could see some time there, but will also return to her roots on the outside. Sproule finished 2018 playing in 25 matches while starting in 14 of those. She had 96 kills and 46.0 blocks.
Sophomore Megan Yett got better as 2018 went along on the left side. She was fourth on the team in kills with 260 and defensively had 232 digs and 35.0 blocks.
The other returning outside hitter is Kinga Windisch. She played in 16 matches last season and came up big in moments like getting the winning kill in a set against Stanford.
The Utes have two incoming outside hitters. Leah Schmidt is 6-3 from Westlake, Ohio. She was named First Team All-Conference three times and First Team All-District two times over her high school career.
The other is Zoe Weatherington from Mint Hill, North Carolina. She was named an Under Armour All-American nominee after totaling 1,320 kills, 99 blocks and 875 digs in her high school career at Charlotte Country Day. While putting up those numbers, she was named All-State NCISSA four times.
The Utes begin the season Friday, August 30 by taking on Saint Mary's at noon followed by No. 7 Kentucky that night at 7:30. For more updates on Utah volleyball, check out @UtahVolleyball on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook or head to UtahUtes.com
Drews is coming off one of the best seasons in program history totaling 522 kills and 322 digs. She was voted onto the Preseason All-Pac-12 Team after an unbelievable sophomore campaign that ended with her being an AVCA Second Team All-American. Drews was just the second Utah player to have over 500 kills in the rally-scoring era.
Along with being named an All-American for the first time, she also earned All-Region and Pac-12 honors for the first time.
Koerber played on the right side and earned honorable mention All-American, All-Region and All-Pac-12 honors.
She was a consistent force on offense and defense finishing the year third on the team in kills with 264 and second on the team in blocks with 108.0.
These two catapulted their sophomore success to making the US Collegiate National Team – Japan with teammate Saige Ka'aha'aina-Torres.
Joining them on the outside is another student-athlete who got valuable international experience by making the Canadian NextGen Team and training with the national team this summer. Lauren Sproule also traveled to Lima, Peru to play in the 2019 Pan American Games for Canada.
Last season, Sproule spent most of the year filling in as middle blocker, so she is very versatile. This year she could see some time there, but will also return to her roots on the outside. Sproule finished 2018 playing in 25 matches while starting in 14 of those. She had 96 kills and 46.0 blocks.
Sophomore Megan Yett got better as 2018 went along on the left side. She was fourth on the team in kills with 260 and defensively had 232 digs and 35.0 blocks.
The other returning outside hitter is Kinga Windisch. She played in 16 matches last season and came up big in moments like getting the winning kill in a set against Stanford.
The Utes have two incoming outside hitters. Leah Schmidt is 6-3 from Westlake, Ohio. She was named First Team All-Conference three times and First Team All-District two times over her high school career.
The other is Zoe Weatherington from Mint Hill, North Carolina. She was named an Under Armour All-American nominee after totaling 1,320 kills, 99 blocks and 875 digs in her high school career at Charlotte Country Day. While putting up those numbers, she was named All-State NCISSA four times.
The Utes begin the season Friday, August 30 by taking on Saint Mary's at noon followed by No. 7 Kentucky that night at 7:30. For more updates on Utah volleyball, check out @UtahVolleyball on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook or head to UtahUtes.com
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