University of Tennessee Athletics
Volleyball Signs Trio of Talented Prepsters
November 21, 2007 | Volleyball
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. ??? A trio of talented student-athletes will join the University of Tennessee volleyball program for the 2008 campaign, Lady Vol head coach Rob Patrick announced Wednesday. All three of this year???s signees, including setter Kelsey Mahoney of Fort Worth, Texas, middle blocker DeeDee Harrison of Nashville, Tenn., and outside hitter Kayla Jeter of Solon, Ohio, are ranked among the top-100 seniors in the nation by PrepVolleyball.com.
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???We were able to address every need for our program with our 2008 recruiting class,??? UT head coach Rob Patrick said. ???A lot of that credit can go to Mike Minnis, our recruiting coordinator, who has done a terrific job of evaluating their talents and providing them with information about the University of Tennessee and our volleyball program.???
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???I am especially looking forward to seeing these athletes work with (assistant coach) Katie Noble in the gym,??? Patrick said. ???She is an experienced coach who will do a great job of developing the athletic talent of this class to its full potential.
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???The athleticism that Kayla and DeeDee will bring to the outside and middle hitter positions will allow us to match up with almost any other team in the country,??? Patrick said. ???Add to that the experience and leadership that Kelsey offers, and this group will allow us to continue to compete for SEC championships every season.???
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A 5-10 setter, Mahoney brings an impressive r??sum?? to Rocky Top. She is ranked No. 38 on PrepVolleyball.com???s Senior Aces list and was named one of the top two setters in the state of Texas by LoneStarVolleyball.com. The Fort Worth, Texas, native was selected as the MVP of the Texas Advantage club team, which earned the distinction of 2006 Team of the Year from LoneStarVolleyball.com. In 2007, her TAV 17 Asics squad claimed fifth place at the Junior Olympics in Minneapolis, Minn., after a third-place performance by her TAV 16 Asics team the previous year and a placing of fifth by the TAV 15 Asics squad in 2005.
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Mahoney also participated on the USA Volleyball Youth National Team in 2006, helping the squad earn the North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation (NORCECA) Girls??? Youth Continental Volleyball Championship with a perfect 5-0 record. Mahoney recorded a double-double in the championship match against Dominican Republic with 19 assists and 11 digs.
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Over the past four years, Mahoney has also put together a stellar high school career. A member of the first varsity team ever at Keller H.S., she was named the District 9-4A Newcomer of the Year in 2004 and first-team all-district in 2005. The following year, Mahoney guided her team to its first winning record (26-13), while earning District 5-5A Setter of the Year, LoneStarVolleyball.com All-Texas Team and Fort Worth Star-Telegram Super Team honors. In 2007, she did one better, leading Keller Central to the playoffs for the first time ever and picking up District 5-5A MVP accolades.
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???I am very excited to have Kelsey come into our program,??? Patrick said. ???She has been a tremendous leader for her high school and club teams and that is one of the most important attributes that we look for in a setter. Her club team runs a similar offense to the system we run here at Tennessee, so she should be able to assimilate herself very quickly.
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???Kelsey demands a lot of respect from her teammates and I expect her to be a great leader both on and off the court for the next four years,??? Patrick said. ???She has the ability to lead her team through rough times during matches, by taking the team on her shoulders and making the plays both offensively and defensively needed to weather any of her team???s inconsistent play. That is the mark of a very strong-minded player.???
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The first in-state recruit during Patrick???s tenure on Rocky Top, Harrison hails from Nashville, Tenn. The 6-3 middle blocker ranks 63rd on the PrepVolleyball.com Senior Aces list and plays on the Impact VBC club team.
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During her time at Hillsboro H.S. in Nashville, Harrison lettered all four years in volleyball, basketball and softball. She served as the captain for the volleyball team during her entire career and for the final two seasons in both basketball and softball. Harrison garnered all-district honors in volleyball during each of her final three years in volleyball, while picking up all-tournament laurels in the last two. She was also named to the all-tournament team for basketball in both 2005 and 2007.
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Harrison boasts a strong athletic pedigree, as her dad, former Vanderbilt star Dennis ???Bigfoot??? Harrison, spent ten seasons as a defensive end with the Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers and Atlanta Falcons in the NFL and her brother, David Harrison, is currently a center on the Indiana Pacers roster in the NBA. Her father earned a spot in the NFL Pro Bowl in 1981, while her brother was named to the All-Big XII First Team and earned Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American honors in 2004. In all, Harrison has 11 siblings, including five brothers and six sisters.
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???DeeDee is an extremely athletic player who has just started concentrating on volleyball over her last two years of high school,??? Patrick said. ???We have been very successful when taking great athletes like DeeDee and helping them become great volleyball players. We feel that DeeDee???s potential will help our team match up physically with anybody in the country. She will be a force at the net, both blocking and attacking.
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???She is already touching 10???3??? and that will only increase as she goes through our skills training and strength and conditioning program at Tennessee,??? Patrick said. ???Her potential is unlimited.???
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Jeter, a 5-11 outside hitter listed as No. 67 on the PrepVolleyball.com Senior Aces list, guided Solon (Ohio) H.S. to a remarkable 84-24 record during her four years with the team. The squad reached the playoffs in all four seasons, nabbing district championship crowns each year, conference titles in the final three and a trip to the state tournament as regional champions in 2006.
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From her sophomore year on, Jeter earned all-state honors each season, including 2005 third-team all-state, 2006 second-team all-state and 2007 first-team all-state. She was also tabbed first-team all-district all three of those years, in addition to claiming all-conference laurels in both 2006 and 2007. Following her junior year, Jeter was honored as a Cleveland Plain Dealer All-Star, while earning player of the week honors from the paper during her senior season.
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Her father, Gary, was an All-American defensive tackle for Southern California, a top-five draft pick and played in the NFL for 13 seasons with the New York Giants, Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots. During the 1985 season with the Rams, he was a teammate of Dennis Harrison, father of fellow Lady Vol recruit DeeDee Harrison.
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???Kayla is somebody I believe will have an opportunity to vie for playing time very early in her career,??? Patrick said. ???Although she is already a great athlete who plays at the 10-foot level, I think she is a more skilled volleyball player than most people give her credit for. She will have the skill level coming in to be a six-rotation player for us during her first year. She is another player who, athletically, will allow us to match up with the top teams in the country.???
