Women's Volleyball Inks Four Highly Regarded Prep Stars
February 02, 2000 | Women's Volleyball
Feb. 2, 2000
LOS ANGELES -- Four of the nation's top high school women's volleyball players--Katie Olsovsky of Bishop Montgomery High in Torrance, Calif., April Ross of Newport Harbor High in Newport Beach, Calif., Kelli Lantz of Centennial High in Bakersfield, Calif., and Toni Anderson of Esperanza High in Anaheim, Calif.--have signed letters of intent with USC that give the Women of Troy perhaps the country's top recruiting class, interim head coach Jerritt Elliott announced today.
"I'm extremely excited because I feel we have the No. 1 recruiting class in the country, and many others are telling me that, too," said Elliott. "It's USC's best incoming class ever. Not only are these special athletes, but they are extremely focused on teamwork."
Olsovsky, a 6-foot-3 middle blocker, is a two-time prep All-American who led Bishop Montgomery to the CIF Division III championship in 1999. Featured on the cover of this January's Volleyball Magazine, she was a four-time All-CIF Division III selection and two-time (1998, 1999) All-CIF Player of the Year. With the U.S. Junior National Team, she traveled to Portugal in 1999 where the squad was sixth in the World Juniors tourney and she earned all-tournament honors. The 1999 South Bay Daily Breeze Player of the Year, she broke school records for career kills (1,512) and blocks (662).
A 6-foot-1 outside hitter, Ross was the 1999 Gatorade Circle of Champions National Player of the Year. She helped lead Newport Harbor to three straight Sea View League titles and back-to-back (1998, 1999) CIF Division I crowns (Newport Harbor posted a 40-1 record in 1999 and a 37-2 mark in 1998). She began her prep career as a middle blocker, played outside hitter in 1998 and took on the role of setter as a senior. Among her many accolades, she was named the Los Angeles Times, Orange County Register and All-CIF Southern Section Player of the Year in 1999.
Lantz, a 6-foot-3 middle blocker, was named The Bakersfield Californian Player of the Year after guiding the Golden Hawks to the 1999 CIF Central Section Division I championship. Last year, she was named to the all-tournament team at the prestigious Tournament of Champions in Santa Barbara, Calif. As a freshman, she was a member of Centennial's state championship team, playing with current USC outside hitter Janae Henry.
One of the nation's top setters, the 5-foot-10 Anderson was named the Co-Most Valuable Player of the Sunset League in 1999.
"Katie and April are All-American players who were recruited by every program in the country," said Elliott. "Kelly will be force for us in the middle and we'll be able to rely on Toni, who is the top setter in this year's class nationally, as our 'do-everything' player. With these four, we look forward to taking the USC program back to the forefront of collegiate women's volleyball. Our goal is to bring home a fifth national championship for USC."
