May 19, 2008

NEW HAVEN, Conn.--The Yale volleyball team will welcome five freshmen next season, Head Coach Erin Appleman announced today. Laurel Casey (San Diego, Calif.), Katie Cordell (Yorba Linda, Calif.), Taylor Cramm (Laguna Niguel, Calif.), Bridget Hearst (Pacific Palisades, Calif.) and Paloma Pineda (Bellevue City, Wash.) will join the program for the 2008 season. The Class of 2012 consists of four players from California, as well as one from Washington. In addition, the incoming freshmen play each of the five different positions on the floor (libero, outside hitter, middle blocker, opposite and setter).

"I am very excited about this incoming class," Appleman said. "They all have unique skill sets, and I expect them to have a big role in the program."

Casey is a 5-foot-6 libero from The Bishop's School in San Diego. The Bishop's School reached the Southern California regional finals last season, and Casey was named first team CIF All-Section Division IV for the second straight year. She was selected to the San Diego Union-Tribune's all-academic first team and prepvolleyball.com's Academic All-American team in 2007. Casey also earned all-league honors in both soccer and softball during high school.

A 5-foot-10 outside hitter, Cordell won three varsity letters at Esperanza High School. As a senior, she was named first team All-Sunset League and won the team's coach's award. In 2005, Esperanza won the CIF Division I-AA southern section championship and Cordell was named team MVP. Her club team took second place at the 2007 Reno Volleyball Festival and won the 2006 Junior Olympic Invitational.

Cramm, a 6-foot-2 middle blocker, helped lead Dana Hills High School to the CIF Quarterfinals in 2007. She was selected second team all-league and third team All-Orange County while being named the team's best offensive player. Cramm played club volleyball at the Laguna Beach Volleyball Club, where her team qualified for the open division of the Junior Olympics three straight years (2005-07), taking fifth place in 2006.

Hearst, a 6-foot-2 opposite, was a high school teammate of Kelly Ozurovich at Notre Dame Academy. A four-year varsity starter, she earned first team All-CIF honors twice (2005-06) and helped lead Notre Dame to the CIF Division III championship in 2005. In 2007, her club team won the silver medal at both the 18-open Junior Olympics and the USA High Performance Challenge.

Pineda, a 5-foot-11 opposite/setter, attended the Lakeside School in Seattle. She served as team captain during both her junior and senior years and was named second team all-league twice (2006-07). Her club team, Kent Juniors-17 Baden, won the regional championship in 2007.

"These five athletes are exactly the type of players I'm looking for," Appleman said. "They nicely fill the holes left by graduation and should all be able to help us in our goal of winning the Ivy League championship."

The Bulldogs open the season on Sept. 12, when they host Boston College in the Yale Invitational. Yale also plays preseason tournaments at Albany and defending national champion Penn State before diving into Ivy League competition.

Report filed by Joe Clifford, Yale Sports Publicity