Signing letters of intent to continue their athletic and academic careers at USD included Jillian Fields of Naperville, Ill.; Bailey Reshel of Hortonville, Wis., Kimberlee Bulaga of Crystal Lake, Ill., and Taylor Russell of Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Fields, a 5-foot-3 libero from Naperville Central High School, is a two-year letterwinner. She was named to the 2008 All-Conference team as well as being named to the All Academic All-Conference team in 2007-08. Fields was a member of the 2007 4A Division State Championship team and was part of the 2008 squad which finished with a 33-6 overall record.

"Jill is one of the best liberos coming out of the Midwest in the 2009 recruiting class," said Houk. "She is quick and instinctive, and she has a nose for the ball, which are great qualities of a defensive specialist. She has some big shoes to fill with the departure of Amber Kobus, but Jill is up to the challenge, and I believe she will do a great job of continuing the tradition of great Liberos at USD."

Reshel, a 6-foot outside hitter, from Hortonville High School finished her senior season with 405 kills while being named first-team All-Conference. She was named Player of the Year and All-Area Player her senior season. As a junior she was named All-Conference honorable mention. She finished this past season with 101 block assists and 54 solo blocks while also recording 121 digs.

"Bailey will add a lot of athleticism to our team right away," said Houk. "She is a huge jumper, and attacks with a lot of power. She is also an extremely competitive kid with a strong desire to be the best. We are very fortunate that she will be graduating high school at semester and then join the team during the Spring of 2009, so that will really help her in her development, and it will make her more experienced next fall."

Bulaga, a 6-foot outside hitter, from Marian Central Catholic High School was a member of the 2008 Regional and Sectional championship team. She named the the All-conference team in 2007 and 2008 while being named the team MVP in the 2007 season. Bulaga finished the 2008 season with 302 kills and 48 blocks while she had 588 career kills and 104 career blocks.

"Kim will add a lot of experience to our team," said Houk. "She comes from a club that has a great tradition of putting high quality athletes into quality college programs. Kim is a long outside hitter that has a high volleyball IQ, and she really knows how to score the ball."

Russell, a 6-foot-2 middle blocker, from St. Albert High School helped her team to finish 28-11 overall this past season. In her senior season, Russell led St. Albert in kills (359), kills per game (3.5), attack attempts (818), attack efficiency (.302), and blocks (92) while helping the Saintes advance to the Class 2A Regional Finals.

"Taylor is a legit 6-foot-2, and brings great athleticism in along with that height," Houk said. "We have established the middle attack as a huge part of our scheme, and we expect Taylor to step in and continue the dominance of Coyote middle blockers. Taylor also has a really high ceiling, and we are excited about how good she is going be as her career goes on."

"I am very excited about this group of young ladies," Houk said. "They have already set some very high goals for what they want to accomplish while they are here. They have a high volleyball IQ, and they are extremely athletic. The last two seasons the bar has been set very high, and this group is ready to come in an continue that tradition. This group of recruits along with our returners next season will be very poised to make some noise in the Great West."

USD finished the 2008 campaign with an overall record of 23-4, which tied the school record for wins in a season which was set in 2007.