Volleyball Announces Fall Recruiting Class
11/14/2014 5:42:00 PM | Volleyball
Today Booth announced a four-person recruiting class that she thinks is as highly-touted as any group in her 12-year tenure. It includes top-50 prospects Taryn Kloth (Sioux Falls, S.D.) and Jaali Winters (Ankeny, Iowa), as well as Megan Ballenger (Ankeny, Iowa) and Samantha Bohnet (Council Bluffs, Iowa).
“The thing that really excites me about this class is obviously they are highly talented and people are talking about what an outstanding class it is on the court, “ Booth said, “but I can't say enough good things about these young women off the court. They are fun, high-character, competitive, smart young women that I think will enhance our great team culture even more.”
Below is a profile on each prospect, listed alphabetically:
Megan Ballenger (6'1", Middle Blocker, Ankeny, Iowa, Ankeny HS)
• Team finished 35-8 as a senior and reached state tournament quarterfinals.
• Led team with 19 kills and four solo blocks while adding nine blocks vs. Johnston at state tournament.
• At state tournament, ranked second in kills per set (trailing only Jaali Winters), third in blocks per set and tied for eighth in aces.
• Ranked first among all 5A players in Iowa in kills per set while ranking seventh in blocks, seventh in digs and sixth in aces.
• Three-time All-CIML Elite team pick, as named by the Des Moines Register.
• Played club volleyball for All Iowa Attack, where she was a teammate of Jaali Winters.
“Megan is the kid at crunch time that her setter constantly finds,” Booth said. “She just figures out ways to earn the points, whether it be rocketing a ball or roll-shoting a ball. She seems to get her hands on so many blocks, which I'm always amazed by that. She's a very high volleyball IQ player. The thing that is unique about Megan is she could play any front row position and we like her in the middle. We don't know for sure where she'll land in the front row, but she is an incredible back-row player too. She'll be fighting for back row in addition to front row time, which is pretty atypical for middles.”
Samantha Bohnet (5'6", Setter/Defensive Specialist, Council Bluffs, Iowa, Abraham Lincoln HS)
• Plans to enroll at Creighton in January.
• Team finished 40-14 and reached the semifinals of the state tournament, where it fell to eventual champ Ankeny Centennial despite her 16 assists and 11 digs.
• Team finished the regular-season ranked seventh in Iowa Class 5A.
• Led the state in assists, second in the state in aces, third in hitting percentage and sixth in digs.
• At state tournament, was third in hitting percentage, fourth in aces and fifth in assists per set.
• Had 45 assists, nine digs and seven kills in state tournament victory over Des Moines Dowling.
“Samantha's a kid that's going to give us depth in a couple of different position,” Booth said. “She's an outstanding setter, so it will give us depth in that position and I think she has the capability to be a really fantastic DS/Libero type player. She's a feisty, competitive kid that is a winner and we're excited to have her on the team.”
Taryn Kloth (6'4", Outside Hitter, Sioux Falls, S.D., O'Gorman Catholic HS)
• Ranked 18th on PrepVolleyball.com's Senior Aces list., believed to be South Dakota's highest-ranked player ever.
• 2014-15 Under Armour Honorable Second-Team All-American.
• Named All-American at AAU Nationals after helping her team to a fifth-place finish.
• Owns O'Gorman record for career kills, breaking the mark in an October win over top-ranked Sioux Falls Christian.
• Currently leads Class AA in hitting percentage, second in kills, third in kills per set and 16th in blocks.
• Had 22 kills and 17 digs in District 1AA championship game to qualify for state, as team is top seed for event that begins next week.
• Team won state as a junior, as she had 20 kills and 10 digs in the final, and she was named to All-Tournament Team.
• Also had 17 kills & 17 digs in state semifinal win, and 18 kills and 13 digs in the 2013 quarterfinals.
• Team finished fifth at state as both a freshman and sophomore.
• Plays club volleyball for Kairos Elite.
“Taryn has gone from being a good player to being one of the premier players in the country in her class,” Booth said. “When she committed to Creighton she was 6'2”. A coach's dream is a player that continues to grow, and now she's at 6'4”. Taryn is effective in the front and back row. Her high school team is No. 1 in state and her club team has done well. She's used to winning and she's carried a large load for her teams being successful."
Jaali Winters (6'2", Outside Hitter, Ankeny, Iowa, Ankeny Centennial HS)
• 2014-15 Under Armour Third Team All-American.
• Ranked 41st on PrepVolleyball.com's Senior Aces list.
• Team won state title with a 44-3 record her senior year, as she led all players with 15 kills and 16 digs in championship match sweep over two-time defending champ Bettendorf.
• Named MVP of the All-Tournament Team.
• At state tournament, led all players in kills, kills per set and serving percentage while ranking third in digs.
• Team title was the first for a girls program in school history.
• Ranked second in the state of Iowa in kills per set, fifth in hitting percentage, eighth in aces and 13th in blocks.
• Father, James, played basketball at Iowa and her uncle is former Creighton basketball player Adam Reid.
• Plays club volleyball for All Iowa Attack, where she was a teammate with Megan Ballenger.
“Jaali could have gone big-time basketball as well as big-time volleyball,” Booth said. “She's an incredible athlete. Her teams consistently win and Jaali is a big part of that. She's a fierce competitor, incredible teammate, huge arm and a six-rotation player."
Creighton (20-7, 13-1 BIG EAST) is attempting to reach its third straight NCAA Tournament and can clinch its first BIG EAST title with wins this weekend at Providence and St. John's.
