The Lewis-Clark State college volleyball team has signed a pair of setters from the state of Washington to join the six-time defending Frontier Conference champion Warriors for the 2013 season.
LCSC coach LaToya Harris said that the two players, Darby Santos of Spokane, Wash. and Makenzie March of Puyallup, Wash., both signed their National Letters of Intent in November.
Santos and March join a returning duo of setters for the Warriors, and will push rising senior Naomi Hernandez and rising junior Ali Hubert for playing time.
“Both athletes have amazing personalities and fit perfectly into the mold of our family,” Harris said. “We welcome them and look forward to the upcoming season.”
Santos comes to LCSC from Shadle Park High School in Spokane, the same program that produced Bri Brown and Kaylee Rector, the team’s two graduating seniors. Santos also has another connection to LCSC, as her older brother Donnie will be a catcher on the Warrior baseball team this spring.
Santos was named the Most Valuable Player of the Greater Spokane League after her 2012 senior campaign, quite an accomplishment given the GSL’s stature among Washington conferences. She set the GSL record for most service aces in one season, and also broke SPHS’ school record for career assists.
Santos was a first-team All-GSL pick from her sophomore season on.
“We are extremely excited about Darby. She has great hands, a strong mentality and is a very aggressive player. Darby is also a hitter -- a powerful one at that -- and led her team on the offensive side of the game as well. Her work ethic speaks volumes and with her leadership and positive energy she will control the offense very well,” Harris said.
March was a four-year varsity starter at Puyallup High School, and earned all-league honors after both her junior and senior campaigns. In 2011, she helped Puyallup to a fifth-place finish at the WIAA Class 4A state tournament, and as a senior the team returned to state for the 14th time.
During her senior season, March set the school record at Puyallup for assists in a career.
“Makenzie is a smooth and controlled setter. It is not every day that you find a left handed setter and with that advantage she creates opportunities for her hitters when she sets front row. Makenzie also reads the ball very well from the passers and is quick on her feet. Her poise and volleyball IQ is impeccable,” Harris said.
March received the AAUW Scholars' Recognition Award for science and the "Pride Achievemenent Citizenship Effort Award" from Puyallup High.
Both signees are excellent students, and will continue that tradition of classroom excellence among LCSC volleyball players as well as on-court excellence.
