April 21, 2006
ORLANDO - UCF volleyball head coach Meg Colado announced on Friday that the Golden Knights have received National Letters of Intent (NLI) from a pair of players, Cassie Ramaekers and Lauren Williams. Ramaekers starred at Indian Hills Community College in Iowa and Williams is a local product from nearby Lake Mary who attends Seminole High School.
Both players will join the UCF program this fall.
An Iowa native, Ramaekers played at IHCC for coach Tori Fowler. The 5-foot-4 libero led the nation with 1,002 digs in 2005, averaging 7.2 per game. Following the regular season, she was a National Junior College Athletic Association All-Region XI Division I selection.
"Cassie is a great defender," said Colado. "Her statistics in junior college say it all. We are looking forward to having her run the backcourt."
Ramaekers helped lead the Warriors to a fifth-place showing at the NJCAA Tournament this past season. Her team concluded the year with a 38-6 record.
Williams is a 5-foot-11 middle blocker who was a two-year letterwinner at Seminole for coach Elizabeth Corso. As a senior in 2005, Williams recorded 175 kills, 145 digs and 30 total blocks. She earned second-team all-conference honors after the season. Williams plays at the club level with The Volleyball Academy at Winter Springs.
"Lauren is a pure athlete who has great potential," said Colado. "She is a bright, hard-working student-athlete and we cannot wait to start working with her."
Ramaekers and Williams will join two other recruits on the UCF squad next season. Erin Campbell and Andrea Youngblood both signed NLIs with the Golden Knights in November.
"With all four signees joining our program, we just got a lot more competitive. All of these players are going to compete and push our current players," said Colado. "This is a great group and we are so excited about our future."