By Steve Lansdale
AUSTIN, Texas — After reaching the 2015 national championship game, the University of Texas volleyball team announced the addition of five new players for next season’s team.
The Longhorns’ 2016 freshman class will consist [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level1)]of Orie Agbaji, Autumn Rounsaville, Blair Westerlund, Claire Hahn and Riley Fisbeck.
An outside hitter out of Kansas City, Mo., Agbaji was named one of Volleyball Magazine’s Top Five Players in the Class and to the Volleyball Magazine “Girls’ Fab 50,” a 2016 PrepVolleyball Senior Ace, a 2016 Under Armour First-Team All-America, the MVP of the European Global Challenge and was named to the 2015 Women’s Junior National Team, with which she earned All-Tournament Team honors.
At Oak Park High School, she was named first-team All-State, first-team All-Region, first-team All-District and first-team All-Conference. She also was named to the All-State Second Team in 2014-15, the All-Region First Team and All-District Team in 2013-14 and 2014-15 and the All-Conference First Team all four years of her high school career.
“Orie is a big-time athlete,” Texas head coach Jerritt Elliott said. “She is very physical, touching around 10-8. She has the ability to be really good in front of the setter and behind. We think she has a great upside. Her work ethic stands out to me (and) she is determined to be great.”
A middle blocker out of Austin, Westerlund was named one of Volleyball Magazine’s “Girls’ Fab 50,” to the 2016 Under Armour All-America Third Team, a 2016 PrepVolleyball Senior Ace and was named to the All-Tournament Team at the 2014 Nationals with Austin Juniors.
She played at Brentwood Christian School, earning all-state tournament team honors, first-team all-district, all-region and all-conference honors and was named Most Valuable Player in four different tournaments.
“Blair is an explosive athlete with a quick arm,” Elliott said. “She is going to get a lot stronger, and is going to learn the pace of our game, but her physicality is really good and we are excited to see how she is going to progress in our program.”
A libero out of Austin, Hahn was named a 2016 Under Armour Second-Team All-America and played in the 2014 Global Challenge with Austin Juniors.
At Westlake High School, Hahn was named all-district in 2015-16, the MVP of District 14-6A in 2014-15 and earned All-Texas honors in 2014-15 and 2015-16.
“Claire has really progressed over her career,” Elliott said. “I think she does a lot of things well with her skill set. She is very still with her platform and has a very high volleyball IQ. I think she is going to be pushing from day one to come in and compete for a starting spot. We are excited about that.”
Another libero from Austin, Rounsaville was named a 2016 PrepVolleyball Senior Ace, to the 2016 Under Armour All-America Third Team and was named the USA All-Tournament Team Defensive Player in 2012 for Austin Performance.
At Dripping Springs High School, Rounsaville was named District 25-4A Newcomer of the Year in 2012, the Austin American-Statesman First Team Award in 2013 and the Defensive Player of the Year All-District Award in 2014. She was named first-team all-state by the Texas Sports Writers, was selected to the Hays Free Press First Team, the UIL State Championships Final Four All-Tournament Team and the Texas Girls Coaches Association All-State in 2014. In 2015, she was named Outstanding Defensive Player at the Adidas Texas Volleyball Invitation, a PrepVolleyball Preseason All-American and a PrepVolleyball Senior Ace.
“Autumn has a good feel and a touch for the ball,” Elliott said. “There are some things from a high level of volleyball IQ that she brings to the floor. I think she will complement what we have right now, and is another player that will be competing for a starting position in the backcourt from day one.”
A setter out of LaGrange, Texas, Fisbeck was named a PrepVolleyball Senior Ace in 2016 and 2015 and an AVCA Under-Armour All-America in 2015. She was named to the Lonestar Volleyball All-Texas Team in 2015-16, earned all-state honors from the 2014 Texas Girls Coaches Association and Texas Sports Writers and was the 2014 Texas District 21 4A Most Valuable Setter.
She earned Lonestar Volleyball All-Texas Team honors in 2015-16, was named Lonestar Volleyball Hitter of the Year honorable mention and was a Lonestar Volleyball Player finalist in 2015. In addition, she received Texas Sportswriters All-State Setter honorable mention accolades, was a Maxpreps Medium School All-American in 2015 and was the 2013-14 Lonestar Volleyball All-Texas Team Player to Watch.
“Riley is a tall, strong 6-1 setter,” Elliott said. “She moves well and is developing her game at a high level. She is very proficient at what she does. She can run an offense and set at a very high level and can be a force at the net blocking and dumping. She will bring a lot of those attributes to our program.”
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