Nov. 21, 2001
Georgia Tech’s head volleyball coach Shelton Collier announced on Wednesday the signing of three high school standouts to national letters of intent for the 2002-03 academic year.
Collier adds Lindsey Laband (Monument, Colo.), a 5-11 setter, Blair Moon (Missouri City, Texas), a 5-10 rightside hitter, and Jennifer Randall (Long Beach, Calif.), a 5-10 outside hitter to a squad which will return four starters in the 2002 season.
“With four important positions to be filled on our roster for 2002, we feel like we did really well with three of the four with this recruiting class,” said Collier. “All three come from winning traditions, and all three have the ability to contribute right away here.”
Laband, an all-state selection her junior year, helped Lewis-Palmer High School to the Class 4A State Championship this season. A member of the prominent Colorado Juniors, Laband also excelled in basketball in high school and was named the Gazette Athlete of the Year in 2001.
“Lindsey is a very athletic, high potential setter,” said Collier. “She has a great mentality as a winner, and I expect her to develop into an exceptional collegiate setter here, and she will be a fun player to coach.”
Moon, the daughter of longtime NFL star Warren Moon, is an accomplished player with excellent skills and tremendous athletic potential. Moon helped Elkins High School, who was ranked as high as No. 4 in the nation by USA Today to the playoffs this season and plays for the Texas Tornadoes club team.
“Blair is an exceptional athlete and will have shot at challenging for a starting position here as a freshman, and we feel that she will quickly be a factor in the Atlantic Coast Conference,” said Collier. “We had to battle a number of schools to secure Blair, so we are very pleased to have landed such a high profile recruit.”
Randall, who helped Long Beach Poly High School to the AA CIF Championship, is a Junior Olympic all-American, has been an all-Moore league selection for four years, and this year was named the MVP of that league. In addition, she was a participant at the United States High Performance Camp in 1999 and as a junior garnered all-CIF and all-state accolades.
“With the loss of Maja Pachale, our top outside hitter and the ACC Player of the Year, we really needed an experienced player to fill this scholarship position,” said Collier. “Jennifer was recruited by a number of top programs across the country and ultimately chose us over Santa Barbara. We expect her to play a significant role with our team right away as a freshman.”
“We still plan to sign a middle blocker to complete our recruiting, but with this class we have the setter, the leftside hitter and the rightside player we need to be successful,” said Collier. “We are very excited about signing these three talented players.”
