North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Volleyball Inks Three Recruits
1/31/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Jan. 31, 2005
NC State volleyball head coach Mary Byrne has announced the signing of three players, Aiwanehi Iboaya of Central High School in St. Joseph, Missouri, Karlie Urbaniak of Mabel-Canton High School in Canton, Minnesota and Kelley Blakewood of Oak Hall High School in Gainesville, Florida that will join the Wolfpack program for the 2005 season. Iboaya and Urbaniak should see time at both middle and outside hitter, while Blakewood will be looked upon to help out defensively.
Iboaya, a 5-10 middle in high school, was an all-city (St. Joseph) selection in both volleyball and track and field as a freshman, sophomore and junior. She was named her school's rookie of the year in 2002, and went on to be honored as the St. Joseph News Press Player of the Year in 2004. A member of the North Stars volleyball club, Iboaya helped lead them to qualify for Nationals this past summer.
Furthermore, in the 2003 addition of the Mid-West Recruiter booklet, Iboaya was listed as one of the top 150 athletes in the nation. Her success stretches to the classroom as well, as she is a member of the National Honor Society, and has been named to the Who's Who Among High School Students, as well as the sports edition. An all-American scholar, Iboaya ranks in the top eight percent of her senior class.
Also with experience in the middle, Urbaniak (5-11) was recently named Ms. Minnesota Volleyball and was a first team all-state selection as well. Among her other honors, Urbaniak was selected as an all-area, all-conference and academic all-conference player as a sophomore, junior and senior. As a sophomore, she was named her team's most valuable player, as well as being honored as the Mabel-Canton Female Athlete of the Year. An all-conference athlete in both basketball and track, Urbaniak was also an academic all-conference honoree in basketball, track and softball throughout her high school career.
"We are very excited to have Aiwanehi and Karlie join the Wolfpack volleyball program," said Byrne. "Karlie is such an athletic and versatile player. This is evident by her strong accolades in high school. Aiwanehi, meanwhile, has an incredible vertical and is also a very quick and agile player. They both are also very strong academically and will make an immediate impact on our program."
A 5-10 varsity starter at outside hitter for four years, Blakewood was voted the 2A Florida Player of the Year. She was also selected to the Florida Sports Writers first team all-state in 2003 and 2004. She helped lead her team to the State Final Four in 2001 and 2004, and finished runner up in 2002. Blakewood was also a member of the 2004 Florida Team that went on to win the USAV High Performance Championship.
She was named to the Gainesville Sun first-team all-area squad in 2003, and second-team in 2002. She also earned tournament honors at the Berkeley Premier Tournament (2004) and Bolles Tournament (2003). A co-captain as a junior and senior, Blakewood led her team in both kills and digs, and holds the school record for most career digs with 1,102. During her senior year, she posted 402 digs and 22 blocks defensively to go with 374 kills. In addition to her impressive overall dig total, she also finished her career with 776 kills, 92 blocks, 518 service points and 159 aces.
Blakewood is also a member of the Gainesville Juniors 18-blue club team, and has had club experience since she was nine years old. Her club team qualified for the Junior Olympic National Volleyball Championships the past six years, including the past three in Open Division. Furthermore, as a team captain for the past five years, Blakewood helped lead her team to a third-place finish at the AAU National Championship in 2004.
"Kelley will be a key player to our team's defense," said Byrne. "She is the type of player that makes her teammates better. She is very focused and comes to us as being one of the best defensive players in the nation."
