Nov. 18, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - UCF head volleyball coach Todd Dagenais announced Tuesday that Angelica Crump (Ellenwood, Ga.), Victoria (Tory) McCutcheon (Milton, Ontario) and Nichole Riedel (Littleton, Colo.) have all signed National Letters of Intent to join the Knights for the 2009 season.
"We knew that our first official recruiting class had to get us the size, speed and athleticism to help us compete at the top of Conference USA," Dagenais said. "Each of the three athletes that we signed gives us those characteristics. I expect that these three players will have a very quick learning curve and I expect each of them to play a significant role in our success next year. Athletically, each of these three players can compete with anyone in the conference. We could not be more please with the recruiting success that we had this year. All of Michelle Chatman's tireless effort paid a huge dividend when these three committed to our volleyball program. Not only do these three student-athletes embody everything that we are striving for on the court, they perfectly fit into our program's commitment to excelling in the classroom."
A six-foot outside hitter for Chamberlee High School in Atlanta, Ga., Crump currently leads the state of Georgia in kills for the 2008 season. Crump is a member of the All-Region Team and won a gold medal in the Georgia State Games earlier this year. Besides producing on the court, the outside hitter also excels in the classroom, as she is one of her school's athletic scholars. Crump is the daughter of Jackie McKinley and Spencer McKinley and plays club volleyball for Atlanta Boom Volleyball Club.
"Angelica is a fantastic athlete and we feel like she can be one of the rising starts in Conference USA as a freshman," Dagenais said. "Her size and athletic ability is something that we need in the outside hitting position to win Conference USA and become a nationally elite program."
A 6-foot-3 middle blocker, McCutcheon plays club volleyball for the Kitchener-Waterloo Predators. The native of Milton, Ontario, Canada, McCutcheon is tops in her class academically and plans to major in bioscience at UCF. She is the daughter of Judy George and Steve McCutcheon
"Tory is a prototypical middle for what UCF is trying to accomplish in the future," Dagenais said. "She is very quick for a 6-3 frame and takes up a wide space when she is blocking. We are very confident that she will adapt quickly to the speed of the collegiate game and become an important part of our offense and defense."
Riedel, a 6-foot-1 middle blocker, earned a spot on the Colorado All-State Tournament Team in 2007 while playing volleyball at Rock Canyon High School. The Littleton, Colo., native was recently named to the All-Conference First Team and has also garnered Academic All-State honors the past two years. Riedel plays club volleyball for the Colorado Juniors Volleyball Club, and previously played for Front Range Volleyball Club, which also honed the skills of current Knights Andrea Youngblood and Lauren Rosenthal. She is the daughter of Shawn and Kris Riedel.
"Nicole brings a high level of volleyball training and experience with her," Dagenais said. "Although she is a middle blocker by trade, we are going to look at every possibility in order to get her on the floor. We think that she has the ability to play multiple positions in college."
The Knights travel to Memphis, Tenn., on Nov. 20, to open the Conference USA Volleyball Championship against SMU at 1 p.m. ET. The winner of the 12-team tournament will receive the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. For the latest news on the Knights, log on to www.UCFAthletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. The site, which also contains ticket and Golden Knights Club donor information, is also the home of UCF's new online apparel store. Also visit www.UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.
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