Beach volleyball added five recruits on National Signing Day, head coach Andrew Fuller announced last week. The five signees — Camdyn Doucet (New Braunfels, Texas), Emma Morris (Haymarket, Va.), Serena Turner (Phoenix, Ariz.), Avi Vetter (Olympia, Wash.) and Taylor Wilson (Santa Barbara, Calif.) — will join a team that finished the COVID-19-shortened season with a 6-7 record but closed the season on a 6-2 run.
“We are thrilled about Camdyn, Emma, Serena, Avi and Taylor joining the Stanford Beach Volleyball family,” Fuller said to GoStanford. “They bring a wealth of experience from all over the country, which is tremendously valuable as we continue to build a roster capable of handling any conditions that the sport of beach volleyball throws their way.”
The Cardinal’s five recruits are the most of any Pac-12 beach volleyball program yet this year. USC, which claimed the Pac-12 Championship two of the past four years, announced its signing of three recruits on Nov. 20.
For Stanford, a team that has not yet claimed a Pac-12 title, the added roster depth while be a big plus for the next few seasons.
Doucet is a three-time TAPPS All-State volleyball team member at her high school, New Braunfels Christian Academy. She is also a three-time AAU beach volleyball National Champion and a five-time member of the A1 High Performance beach team.
“Camdyn is a quick, athletic defender with great spring and elite setting touch who will be flying all over the courts at the Stanford Beach Volleyball Stadium,” Fuller said on GoStanford.
Morris is a three-year volleyball letter-winner at Battlefield High School in Virginia. In 2019, she was named All-District, All-Region and second-team All-State due to her efforts on the court. Fuller described her to GoStanford as “a long, versatile split blocker with a great motor who is consistently pushing herself to evolve her game.”
Turner led her beach volleyball team to an Arizona state title in 2018-19 and was a captain of her school team, Xavier College Prep. She was named All-Region and All-Academic first team by Sports360 AZ. Turner was also a part of the Arizona Interscholastic Association Student Leadership Advisory Committee.
“Serena is an athletic, jumpy blocker with a big-time arm swing who has grown up competing in the desert heat of Phoenix,” Fuller said to GoStanford, adding that Turner “has worked for tremendous success in indoor volleyball and on the beach with her high school, Xavier, and her beach club, RPM.”
Vetter topped her high school’s leaderboard in kills per set, best kill percentage and most season kills all in her 2019 season. She was two-time captain of her school team and was named South Puget Sound All-League in 2019. Vetter also competed with DaKine Volleyball Club and “is a versatile, savvy split blocker who will bring heaps of creativity and competitive experience to the team,” Fuller said.
Wilson, a two-time beach volleyball captain at San Marcos High School, rounds out the incoming class. She was All-Channel League twice and team MVP in 2019, while also competing for Valley Girls Beach Volleyball Club. Fuller told GoStanford that she “is a powerful, athletic split blocker with an absolute cannon.”
Doucet, Morris and Wilson, as well as current freshmen Xolani Hodel and Kate Reilly, are members of the 2020 USA Beach Volleyball U19 A1 National Team.
“They are a curious, engaged, and exceptionally grounded group,” Fuller said of the five incoming athletes to GoStanford. “They’re quite talented individually, but the synergy they’ve created leading up to their time at Stanford is the secret sauce.”
Entering the upcoming season, the Cardinal will retain the majority of their starting five pairs including all six of the first three pairs. This includes the team’s No. 1 pair of senior Sunny Villapando and junior Charlie Ekstrom and their team-leading seven wins in 2020, as well as the No. 2 pair of junior Tori Ashkinos and sophomore Maddi Kriz and No. 3 duo of senior Amelia Smith and junior Maddie Dailey. Fifth years Shannon Richardson and Chelsea Red-Horse Mohl, who last year competed on the No. 4 and No. 5 pairings respectively, round out the returners with starting experience.
Contact Jeremy Rubin at jjmrubin ‘at’ stanford.edu.