Feb. 4, 2000 SEATTLE - The Washington volleyball team has received National Letters of Intent from two high school seniors, head coach Bill Neville announced today. The two signees are Alexis McDonald of Long Beach, Calif., and Kara Bjorklund of Olympia, Wash. McDonald, a 5-foot-10 swing hitter from Long Beach Poly High School, comes from an atheltic family. Her father, Glenn, was an all-America basketball player at Long Beach State and was a member of the 1976 NBA Champion Boston Celtics. Her older brother, Michael, is currently the starting point guard at Stanford. A two-time all-league selection and 1999 offensive MVP of her high school league, McDonald was a member of a gold medal winning team at the Junior Olympics. She also earned praise as one of the nation's top 50 volleyball players in Student Sports Magazine. "Alexis is fairly new to the game, but she has terrific athletic ability and she's a very good jumper," Neville said. "She's not up to her future potential yet, but based on what she's done so far, she's going to be a significant player down the line." Bjorklund, a 5-foot-11 swing hitter and quick hitter from Capital High in Olympia, comes from a family of Husky fans. Her father drives to UW football games in a purple and gold Cadillac and has been a member of the "Coneheads" for years. She was a first-team All-Narrows League pick and co-MVP last fall in volleyball and also made the first team in volleyball last season. She's earned Academic All-America and was a 1999 first-team All-Area pick by the Tacoma News-Tribune. "Kara is a big jumper and an intense competitor," Neville said. "She has hands as big as family-size pizzas. She's a big blocker and we think she may help us right away." |
