OKLAHOMA CITY – Coming off its winningest season since joining the NAIA in 2007, the Mid-America Christian volleyball team has officially signed six collegiate and high school standouts for the upcoming 2021 season.
Joining the Evangels will be Kalyn Cormier, Cloie Mitchell, Vanessa Moreira, Madalyn Shurley, Lena Stockhammer and Clara Zuehlke after the program finished the COVID-19 impacted 2020-21 split season with a 19-15 overall record and went 5-5 in Sooner Athletic Conference play.
"We have recruited a strong and versatile class this year," said head coach Holly McKamie. "Our JUCO transfers put up solid stats at their respective colleges and will bring in a wealth of experience. Our incoming freshmen also come from high caliber teams who have competed for state championship titles as well as played for high level club teams who have won national qualifiers."
Stockhammer headlines MACU's signing class. The 5-10 setter from Austria last year competed for Pensacola State College (Fla.), where as a freshman she led the team with 362 assists, ranking 28th in the entire NJCAA in assists per set at 8.62. Before beginning her collegiate career, Stockhammer played on the Austrian National Team, where she was the team's third setter.
A 5-9 middle blocker from Brazil, Moreira joins the Evangels after a stellar season with Jefferson College (Mo.), where she notched 119 kills on a .309 attack percentage and tallied 35 total blocks on a 0.60 per set average.
Coming in from NCAA Division II Oklahoma Christian, Mitchell will be looking to play her first season of collegiate volleyball after redshirting for the Eagles last season. In her high school career at Mount St. Mary's Catholic High School, Mitchell was named to the All-State Large West Team in 2019 and was a Chisolm Trail Conference All-Tournament Team honoree in 2018. Mitchell helped guide the Rockets to the 2016 5A State Championship and two state runners-up in 2017 and 2018.
Headlining a strong high school class, Cormier will join the Evangels after a stellar career at C.E. King in Houston, Texas. The 5-8 middle blocker was named an All-District honoree in 2018 as well as her team's Defensive Player of the Year. Cormier was a three-year letter-winner in volleyball as well as named to the National Society of High School Scholars after finishing with a 4.0 cumulative grade point average.
The first signee to the class, Zuehlke comes to MACU after competing for V.R. Eaton High School in Fort Worth, Texas, where she was named both an Academic All-District and Academic All-State honoree. Zuehlke helped lead the Eagles to a 6A Region 1 State Finalist while also having club success by helping guide her club team to the Lonestar 18s First Place finish to qualify for the national championships.
Rounding out the signing class, Shurley joins the Evangels after competing for Edmond Sante Fe High School. The 5-10 outside hitter was a two-time varsity letter winner and was named the Most Valuable Player at the Jenks Tournament. Shurley was a member of two State Championship teams in 2018 and 2019 while also finishing in the top three at state in the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
