Nov. 18, 2004
Michelle Kandell (Manhattan Beach, Calif.), a 5-6 libero, signed a national letter of intent to attend Georgia Tech, head volleyball coach Bond Shymansky announced Thursday.
A member of the USA Junior National team in 2004, Kandell plays for the prestigious Mizuno Beach Volleyball Club and helped her team to a third place finish in the Open Division at last year’s Junior Olympics, earning all-tournament honors for her performance.
“Michelle will immediately add balance to this year’s class as one of the best liberos in the country,” said head coach Bond Shymansky. “She has a natural gift for passing and has great touch off her forearms and her ball control and tenacious defensive style will be crucial in maintaining our fast and successful offense.”
Kandell is a four-year letterwinner who led Mira Costa High School, which was ranked as high as No. 7 by prepvolleyball.com, to the California Independent Federation Championship and to the state semifinals in 2003. An excellent student who also enjoys beach volleyball, Kandell recorded a fourth-place finish at the 2004 AAU Junior National Beach Volleyball Championships.
“We are excited to add Michelle to our team next season,” said Shymansky. “She also has a fiery attitude and a fearless competitive streak that is essential in being a great defensive player. Her experience and training with the Junior National team gave her a taste of the level of play and the degree of commitment that are essential as a Georgia Tech volleyball player.”
Kandell becomes the final high school player who will join the Yellow Jackets next season in a class which includes Laura DeMichelis (Aurora, Colo.), Talisa Kellogg (Westerville, Ohio), Callie Miller (Whitehouse, Ohio) and Allie Niekamp (Findlay, Ohio).
“I am very excited and pleased with our class for next year,” said Shymansky. “We lose a number of great players next year so it was very important that we find players who could make an immediate impact to our team and I believe we’ve found just that. Each one of them is gifted athletically and are great people and we are proud they will be joining our program next season.”
