SAULT STE. MARIE – The Lake Superior State volleyball team completed its recruiting class by signing middle hitters Chloe Balanda of Big Rapids and Emily Snyder of Archbold, Ohio, to National Letters of Intent.

Snyder was one of nine seniors who helped lead Archbold High School through an undefeated regular season. She was named to the All-Northwest Ohio Athletic League First Team and received All-Ohio Honorable Mention. The 5-11 middle hitter/outside hitter totaled a team-leading 20 solo blocks, 64 block assists, .417 attack percentage and 224 kills. She had a service percentage of .910.

“She is long, jumps high and makes high contact with the ball,” LSSU coach Mark Engle said. “And her feet are pretty quick. She's a consistent player. She's somewhat like (LSSU standout middle hitter) Sara Hess, but she's not quite as tall. She can jump higher and has played more high-level volleyball than Sara did when she got here. She has really worked on her ball-handling skills during the past year and a half. She's now playing all the way around and has a solid jump serve.”

Balanda, a 6-1 middle hitter who attended Crossroads Charter Academy, caught Engle's attention during a winter walk-on tryout. She earned Michigan High School Volleyball Coaches Association Class D All-State Second Team, Big Rapids Pioneer Dream Team, All-West Michigan D League, and academic all-state honors in 2009. She totaled 325 kills, 115 solo blocks, 68 aces, 196 service points and 260 digs during her senior campaign, which ended with a regional tournament appearance.

“Chloe is left-handed and real long,” Engle said. “She maybe needs to build some strength, and gain a little bit of this and a little bit of that. There's quite a bit of potential there. Being around good training and good players, I expect her game to go uphill pretty fast.”

LSSU's recruiting class also includes 5-6 outside hitter/setter Katie Fitzpatrick of Sault Ste. Marie and 6-0 setter Kristin Kopicki of Sterling Heights, who signed their NLIs in the fall of 2009.

“Every kid coming in has some real up sides,” said Engle, whose team graduated kill leaders Hess and Jessica Ewer. “They are going to put pressure on the other kids. We'll have some hard decisions to make. How many times have we seen Grand Valley have a really good team and have another really good team sitting on the bench? Successful teams have a deep bench. In my mind, I haven't decided anything yet. The first week of practice is going to be important. We got the kids we really needed.”