The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Volleyball signs top recruiting class for 2015
11.12.2014 | Volleyball
Longhorns ink Micaya White, Yaazie Bedart-Ghani and Morgan Johnson.
AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Volleyball signed three players to join the Longhorns in 2015, the program announced on Wednesday.
Micaya White, Yaazie Bedart-Ghani and Morgan Johnson signed national letters of intent to join the No. 5 Texas squad in the fall of 2015.
These three additions will give Texas another opportunity to be the top-ranked recruiting class in the country and its 10th top-five signing class since 2003.
"This is an impact class," Head Coach Jerritt Elliott said. "These players will come in and compete from day one. Our strong veteran nucleus will teach and push them to be better players each day they step into our gym. It's always exciting to have players that will continue the rich tradition of Texas Volleyball. I know I speak on behalf of our alumni and fans in welcoming this talented class."
White, a 6-1 outside hitter from Frisco, Texas was the fourth-ranked player on the Prep Volleyball 2015 Senior Aces list. She was named an Under Armour High School All-American, a Club Volleyball All-American, a Prep Volleyball Junior Top 35 Finalist and one of Volleyball Magazine's 30 Underclassmen to watch.
She was named Most Valuable Player on the All-Tournament team for the Girls Junior National Championship in 2014, leading Texas Advantage Volleyball to the GJNC championship and Team of the Year honors.
At Centennial High School, she was named to USA Today's American Family Insurance ALL-USA Preseason High School Volleyball second-team, All-Texas First-Team and earned The Varsitys Best Female Athlete award in her senior season.
She is a three-time All-District First-Team recipient, two-time All-State and was named to the All-Area First Team in her junior year. In addition, she has been named Player of the Week on numerous occasions by Texas Top 20 and MaxPreps.
"Micaya plays for TAV and continues to make great strides with the training she receives," Elliott said. "She brings big time physicality to our program. She is a young player who has the ability to take over matches and play at an exciting level. She is going to be a lot of fun to work with and will have some big shoes to fill."
Bedart-Ghani, a 6-4 outside hitter from Los Angeles, Calif., was the fifth-ranked player on the Prep Volleyball 2015 Senior Aces list. She also was named an Under Armour High School All-American, one of Volleyball Magazine's 30 Underclassmen to watch and was named to the 2012 Junior National All-Tournament Team for Long Beach Mizuno.
She was named First-Team All Bay League in 2013 and, led Redondo Union High School to a State Championship in 2012 and State Championship Runner up in 2011. She was named a California Interscholastic Federation Champion and a Division 1 AA Regional Champion in 2011 and 2012.
"Yaazie plays for Club Long Beach and is a big 6-4 outside hitter that has the potential to play opposite as well," Elliott said. "She is arguably one of the hardest hitters in her class. She is a quality young lady that will continue to develop in our program."
Johnson, a 6-2.5 middle blocker from DeSoto, Texas, was the 11th-ranked player on the Prep Volleyball 2015 Senior Aces list. She was also named an Under Armour High School All-American, a Prep Volleyball First-Team All-American, a USA Volleyball First-Team All-American and one of Volleyball Magazine's 30 Underclassmen to watch.
She played with White with TAV, earning the 2014 Triple Crown U-17 National Championship, the 2014 USAV U-17 Open Division National Championship and 2014 USAV U-17 National Championship All-Tournament Team honors.
Playing at DeSoto High School, Johnson was named District 8-6A Most Valuable Player and Academic All-District.
She was named First-Team All-District three times, First-Team All-State twice and First-Team All-Texas twice.
"Morgan also plays for TAV and her game continues to take off," Elliott said. "We see amazing growth. Not only has she developed physically, but she has great range, can see the court very well, has great patience and is a very solid blocker. She is a player who can really do a lot of things that will develop in terms of her volleyball IQ, so we are really excited about that."