First, Mallory Sall netted a university athletic scholarship. Now her Riverside Rapids' teammate, Katie Woo, has made her own post-secondary smash.
The setter Woo signed a letter of intent to join the Thompson Rivers WolfPack women's volleyball team on scholarship next fall, the Kamloops university revealed via a press release Monday. It marks the second Rapids player to bag a university athletic scholarship, after the power hitter Sall recently inked a deal to toil for the Minot State Beavers of North Dakota after Riverside finished second at the B.C. AAAA provincial championships in North Vancouver.
"I am so excited about joining this program," said Woo, who ironically played for current WolfPack women's basketball coach Scott Reeves with the B.C. Under-15 girls squad two years ago and was also pondering offers from the University of Guelph in Ontario and UBC Okanagan before choosing Thompson Rivers. "TRU increasingly became the obvious choice for me. I really like [WolfPack head coach] Keith [Lundgren]. I think he is building a program that is a good fit for me. The distance from home is nice; away but not to far and the small campus size is really appealing."
Lundgren was elated to make the five-foot-10 Woo his first high-school recruit signing for the 2012-13 season. Woo was named a first team all-star at both the Fraser Valley high school championships and the provincial tournament this year.
"We have been recruiting Katie for the last year," Lundgren said. "I saw her play quite a bit... she made an immediate impression. She is such a hard worker and a great athlete. We are very excited to have her here."
Woo has been coached the last four years by Bryan Gee, both at Riverside and with the Coquitlam Ducks club team. "Katie is one of the hardest working, positive and selfless players I have ever coached," Gee said. "She is always positive and has a smile on her face. She will definitely be an asset to an up-and-coming CIS program like Thompson Rivers."
