Marquette Welcomes Four Additions to the Roster – GoMarquette.com

April 25, 2017

MILWAUKEE- The Marquette University womens volleyball team and head coach Ryan Theis have announced the signing of Gabbi Martinez, Liza Kastrup, Kayli Trausch, and Martha Konovodoff to the program. Each of the newcomers will arrive on campus in the summer of 2017 and will be eligible to compete with MU during the 2017 season.

Martinez, a defensive specialist, comes to Marquette after spending four years competing at Westlake High School in Austin, Texas. During her time at Westlake, Martinez recorded 608 career digs and was an AVCA Under Armour All-American Honorable Mention selection in 2016. In her senior season, Martinez served as Westlakes captain and averaged 4.9 digs per set, and led her club team, Austin Juniors, to an 18 USA Division National Championship.

A Sugar Grove, Illinois, native Konovodoff joins Marquette after competing at Rosary High School for the last four seasons. Konovodoff had an illustrious career at Rosary, as she set the school record with 1,660 career digs, won four regional championships, and was named to the Daily Herald all-area team three times. The libero also features an extensive career on the AAU circuit, as she helped her squad capture the 2016 AAU national championship and was named to the JVA All-National Team in 2015.

Kastrup hails from Dortmund, Germany, where she captained her Vice Regional championship teams each of the last two seasons. The right-side hitter was a Federal Cup champion with USC-Munster in 2015, and has played with the squad for the last three years where she was named Most Valuable Player nine times through the 2016-17 season. Kastrup earned the second-place youth practice award for USC-Munster in 2016.

"We are pleased to add these three to our program," said Theis. "They will make our gym extremely competitive this fall and moving forward. All three have big game experience with Martha and Gabbi competing for national championships in the last two years while Liza has competed with Germany's youth national teams and played in big time matches in front of thousands of people. We are looking forward to August."

Trausch arrives in Milwaukee after transferring from McHenry County College, where she served the role of team captain in 2016. While running with MCC, the Barrington, Illinois, native tallied 519 kills, 157 total blocks and 669.5 points en route to helping her team win the 2016 Illinois Skyway Conference championship and the NJCAA Region IV title. Following her strong 2016 campaign, Trausch was named ISC Player of the Year. Prior to her time at MCC, Trausch attended Cary-Grove High School in Fox River Grove, Illinois, where she garnered multiple all-conference and all-area accolades.

Kayli is a late bloomer that we are excited to add the program," stated Theis. "Her story is quite remarkable because she was virtually out of volleyball but decided to give it another try. Kayli came back stronger and better than ever, and after achieving multiple accolades at the Junior College level, she is ready to take on her next challenge.

View original post here:
Marquette Welcomes Four Additions to the Roster - GoMarquette.com