Stockton, Calif. - With the new season just three months away the Tigers volleyball team has already begun to make waves on the national scene as their 2016 recruiting class was ranked #29 as PrepVolleyball released the top 30 recruiting classes as ranked by John Tawa. The Tigers will bring in five freshmen into the fold in 2016 with the additions of Emily Baptista (Hilmar, Calif.), Ashlyn Fleming (San Jose, Calif.), Sien Gallop (San Diego, Calif.), Olivia Petnicki (Vacaville, Calif.), and Skylar Wine (Tempe, Ariz.). Additionally, the Tigers added Jess Hess (San Jose, Calif.) from Cal State Northridge at the semester as a college transfer to add six new faces to the 2016 squad that brings back nine returning players.
"I am very excited about our five new freshmen to our program," said head coach Greg Gibbons. "We have more size, speed, and physicality to add to a very deep roster that returns nine players from last season. We add quite a bit of fire power, speed, and ball control with the addition of Emily, Skylar, Sien, and Olivia. Then you add one of the top blocking middles in the country in Ashlyn to that mix and it is going to make for a very exciting gym. What can I say other than we have an exceptionally competitive team and it just got better. It makes for exciting times when you add one of the top recruiting classes in the country to a team that competes at an already high level."
PrepVolleyball's notes: Hard-hitting Baptista is an under-the-radar player and sure fire starter as a freshman. Wine, who does everything well and looks longer every time I see her, should carve out a role as well, giving setter Andie Shelton two more potent targets. I expect a tournament nod to the Tigers in 2016.
Baptista: Baptista wrapped up a stellar four-year career that included four-straight Trans Valley League (TVAL) titles and ended with a 39-match league winning streak that dated back to the end of her freshman season in 2012. She was named the Modesto Bee's Player of the Year as a senior as she ranked first in the section in kills by a wide margin with 579 kills.
Fleming: A graduate of Valley Christian High School, Fleming and the Warriors finished the 2015 season 31-8 overall and 5-2 in league play as a senior en route to winning the Division III CIF State Championship. She posted 2.1 kills per set while tallying just under one block per set played in her final season.
Gallop: Gallop graduated from Francis Parker High School in 2016 after leading the Lancers to three-straight CIF State Championship from 2012-14. They would make their way to the championship tournament for a fourth year in 2015 but fall short with a loss to the No. 1 seed and eventual champions.
Petnicki: A defensive specialist out of Vacaville Chrisitian High School, Petnicki had a standout career for the Falcons that led to three-straight league and section titles in three years on the varsity squad. As a senior, Petnicki averaged 6.4 digs per set en route to earning All-Sierra Delta League honors, her second post-season award after earning honorable mention honors as a junior.
Wine: An Arizona native, Wine is a 2016 graduate of Sunnyslope High School. In 2015, the Vikings took home their third straight league title going a perfect 9-0 as Wine and her fellow Sunnyslope seniors went out riding a 38-match league winning streak having been perfect in league for three-straight seasons. As a junior, Wine was a finalist for PrepVolleyball's National Junior of the Year. She earned PrepVolleyball All-America honors as well as all-state and all-region honors for her play in leading the Vikings to their second-straight Arizona State Division II Championship.
The Tigers are one of three WCC programs to have a top-30 recruiting class ranking alongside of the defending champion BYU Cougars (#16) and Pepperdine (#22) in Tawa's ranking. Pacific picked up High Honorable Mentin status by the magazine as a whole.
Pacific and its stable of freshmen begin the 2016 campaign on the road at the War Eagle Invitational in Auburn, Ala. when the Tigers face off against Auburn on Friday, August 26.
