Kritza Signs Three To 2015 Class

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Category: Volleyball

Naghede Abu (Riverside, Calif.), Taylor Joachim (Baroda, Mich.) and Aidan Lea (Kelowna, B.C.) have signed National Letters of Intent to play for CU.

Originally posted by CUBuffs.com
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[Uncle Ken]

Damn. That's a lot of height!! Unthinkable size just five years ago.

 

[BehindEnemyLines]

Yeah, that really got my attention, too.

 

[BeBe]

Way back when, in my VB and BB playing days, I was one of the tall ones at 5'11". Now I feel like a shrimp next to these young ladies.

 

[AztecBuff]

A few social media links for those interested-

1st, CU Volleyball has facebook pages for each recruit, which can be easily accessed by clicking the links in the following tweets:

[tweet]532656963717328896[/tweet]

[tweet]532656561701666816[/tweet]

[tweet]532655978328502272[/tweet]

And, Taylor Joachim also has an instagram page showing a couple pictures from her signing day- http://instagram.com/p/vUI5OUR62n/ .

Welcome all to the Buffs!

 

[AztecBuff]

Note- there's also a short video (~4 minutes) where Assistant Coach/ Recruiting Coordinator Ryan Jagd goes over the 3 newest Buffs. It can be found at http://www.cubuffs.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=600&&db_oem_id=600 .

I found one interesting thing from his comments about each recruit-

Aiden Lea- is actually going to be starting in Boulder this coming January. I assume this could give her a nice leg up compared to most freshmen by the time next season starts, as she'll have had the opportunity to participate in spring practices with her new team, as well as I assume get stronger and better conditioned having access to the Buff's strength and conditioning program.

Naghede Abu- Mentioned her in terms of potentially either being a middle blocker or outside hitter, so could provide some versatility depending on how her skills progress and what overall team needs end up being.

Taylor Joachim- I was kind of surprised (guess based on her height and her high school stats) that Coach Jagd seemed to mostly comment on her as being a potential setter, possibly being the 2nd setter in a 6-2 (with Gabby Simpson) once Nicole Edelman graduates. Having 6'3" and 6'4" setters, both I assume being hitters when in the front row, would be, I believe, pretty unique in college. (I believe in most cases 6-2's are used partially because one or both good setters on a team are shorter, and so too big a liability blocking-wise to keep in when their rotations go to the front row. Obviously wouldn't be an issue with two 6'3" or taller setters.)

 

[BeBe]

The kind of 6-2 that Aztec is describing as a possibility with Taylor Joachim and Gabby after Nicole Edelman graduates, where both setters stay in and hit when in the front row and set when in the back row, is maybe the original 6-2. I believe it was first used in a prominent way a number of years ago by the Cuban women's national team at a time when they were quite successful internationally.