BATON ROUGE — LSU volleyball’s incoming freshmen class for 2011 received a No. 18 national ranking Wednesday as PrepVolleyball.com released its top recruiting classes.
The Tigers inked Helen Boyle [5-11, OH, Eureka, Mo.], Marissa Maas [6-2, MB, Richmond, Texas], Madi Mahaffey [6-4, MB, Vestavia Hills, Ala.] and Malorie Pardo [5-10, S, League City, Texas] to National Letters of Intent last November.
All four members of the quartet were ranked among PrepVolleyball.com’s Senior Aces Top 150.
Comments from PrepVolleyball.com’s John Tawa on the class …
“LSU has loaded up with another tall, athletic and fiercely competitive group. Four in the class were ranked among the top 150 recruits in the class. All have the ability to make an immediate impact for the Tigers and their fast-paced offense. A super athletic and agile setter, Pardo highlights the class. No. 74 in the Senior Aces, she fits perfectly with the fast, exciting LSU offense. Boyle, who won two state championships at St. Joseph’s, is one of the very best ball control outsides of the class. Boyle will look to be the six-rotation player who makes the life of an LSU setter much easier. With Boyle passing and defending, and Pardo setting the ultra quick LSU offense, the two who might benefit the most are Maas, Pardo’s long-time teammate from AVA, and Mahaffey from Team Sting in Alabama. Mahaffey, at 6-4, was a member of the 2010 USA Youth Olympic team. Maas, who is 6-3, was an All- Greater Houston player. Both are both long athletic terminators who can play multiple spots along the net. LSU also got a late pickup in Brittani Peska, who will add depth to the front row and great competition to practices. Expect this talented group to make a splash in the SEC on the earlier side of their career.”
LSU heads into the 2011 season as one of only 18 programs nationally to qualify for the last six NCAA Tournaments dating back to 2005. The Tigers return 10 letterwinners for the 2011 campaign sparked by AVCA All-South Region Honorable Mention pick Michele Williams and All-SEC First-Team performer Desiree Elliott.
For all of the latest information on Tiger volleyball, log on to http://www.lsusports.net/volleyball or follow the program’s social media outlets at http://twitter.com/lsuvolleyball or LSU Volleyball on Facebook.
Prep Volleyball’s Top 30 Recruiting Classes
1. Texas
2. Penn State
3. Illinois
4. Washington
5. UCLA
6. California
7. Wisconsin
8. Tennessee
9. Pepperdine
10. Southern Cal
11. Arizona
12. Hawai’i
13. Nebraska
14. Purdue
15. Notre Dame
16. Florida
17. Long Beach State
18. LSU
19. Arizona State
20. Utah
21. Oregon
22. Missouri
23. Stanford
24. Ohio State
25. Iowa State
26. Duke
27. BYU
28. Kentucky
29. Georgia
30. Minnesota