MILWAUKEE – The Mount Mary University Athletic Department is about to begin their next competitive season. With a fresh season comes different goals, innovations in styles/techniques and new faces. As Blue Angels Athletics continues to build the depth of their rosters, MMU is proud to announce this year's record setting recruiting class.

The research and ground work to narrow down recruiting fields, working with student-athletes to find the right programs, and ultimately bringing the student-athletes to Mount Mary and integrating them into the folds of the program, is a difficult process for the Blue Angels coaching staff, but their hard work is coming to fruition. And after it all, the MMU staff has enlisted the talents of a record breaking class in 2016.

2016-17 Recruiting Class

(Name                  Hometown         City, State           Position)
(Player Awards, stats, bios)

Softball

Katie Arce           Cypress, Calif.    Cypress High School         Third Base
Empire League 1st Team, Defensive Player of the Year, and All-Star Team; OC United 18U (Travel).

Audrey Beck                      Fountain Valley, Calif.     Fountain Valley High School        Shortstop
Athlete of the Month (HS); 4x letter winner; 2nd Team All-Sunset League; California Cruisers 18U (Travel)

Melanie Coffey                 Cederburg, Wis. Dominican High School Outfielder 
Honorable Mention All-Conference (HS).

Lisa George        Naches, Was.                     Naches Valley High School           Catcher               
2x Second Team All-League; 2x First Team All-League; Athlete of the Year (HS); Canes Fastpitch 18U (Travel).

Jordan Green                    Bastrop, Texas  Woodlands College Park High School       Outfielder          
Diamond Cavalier Award (HS).

Hannah Harnsberger                      Hillsboro, Ore.                   Jesuit High School            Pitcher
Metro League Champion; 2A State Champion; Coaches Award (HS); 2x All-Academic (HS); NW Batbusters (Travel).

Haley Jacquez                    Oakley, Calif.                      Freedom High School                     Outfielder
Most versatile Athlete (HS); 2nd Place ASA Western Nationals (Travel); DF World Series (Travel); Most Defensive Player (HS); Xtreme Elite 16U (Travel).

Haley Johnson   Germantown, Wis.          Germantown High School/Muscantine Junior College     Catcher
Rookie of the Year (HS); Team MVP (HS), Pride of the Midwest 18U (Travel).

Adrianna Nester               Anaheim, Calif.  Western High School      Pitcher
OC United 18U (Travel).

Stephanie Norman          Noblesville, Ind. Crispus Attucks High School         Pitcher
2x HS Team Captain, 3x All-City (HS), 2x North-South All-Star (HS), Team MVP (HS), Indiana Angels (Travel).

April Skroch                        Independence, Wis.   Independence High School          Outfielder
Independence Indees (Travel).

Megan Shelley                  Centralia, Wash.               Centralia High School      Outfielder
2013 Washington 2A State Champions; 2015 1st Team All-Conference; Flash Fastpitch (Travel). 

Sidnee Turnage                Hesperia, Calif. Sultana High School         First Base
Teamsmith - Silva 18U (Travel).

Soccer

Paloma Aguilera               Milwaukee, Wis.              Milwaukee Riverside                     Defender
"Paloma will increase the depth of the team as a hard working midfielder and defender," Coach Jon Gulrajani commented.

Allison Klotz                        Port Washington, Wis.                   Port Washington                              Midfielder
Coach Jon, "Allison is a versatile player who uses both feet well, tall, athletic, connects passes and sees the field [sic]. She will give us consistent midfield play, her passing will help provide improved attacking in the final third."

Alexis Messina                  New London, Wis.           UW Oshkosh/New London          Forward/Midfielder
4x Letter-winner (HS); Second Team All- Conference (HS); First Team All- Conference (HS); 2x Team Captain (HS); Bay Conference Co-Player
Coach Jon Gulrajani, "Alexis is a forward/midfielder with great soccer background, she will provide strong skill, effort, energy and composure in the central areas of the field. She will help boost our attack in the final third.

Hannah Rose                     Hillsdale, Ohio                   Hillsdale               Goalkeeper
"Hannah will bring size and presence in the box and provide depth in our Goalkeeping…" Coach Gulrajani. 4x Letter-winner; Team Captain (HS); 2x Tri-County Honorable Mention (Conf.); Tri-County Top Saves (Conf.); 4x Scholar Athlete; 4x Merit Scholar (>3.75); Fourth in her graduating class.

Kaeli Stellings                     Beloit, Wis.         Beloit Memorial                Forward/Midfielder
"Kaeli great athlete that provides us speed and skill from the left side." Head MMU Coach Jon Gulrajani adds, "Has a great feel around the goal and gives us some needed scoring presence."
3x Letter-winner; Rookie of the Year (HS); National Honor Society; Top 25% of graduating class.

Volleyball

Melanie Coffey                 Cedarburg, Wis.                                Dominican High School                  Outside Hitter
3x Letter-winner (HS); 2014 Led team in kills and aces (HS); 2015 Honorable Mention All-Conference (HS); Played as a 6 rotation outside hitter for the Milwaukee Block Party (Club).

Alyssa Nelson    Rockford, Ill.       Thomas Jefferson High School/Rock Valley College          Defensive Specialist
Summa Cum Laude (Rock Valley College)(AA); Rockford Public School Academic All-Star (HS); 3x Varsity Captain (HS); Holds 6 HS records Best Service Percentage (95.0 career), Most Service Receptions (785 career) & (336 season), Playable Reception Percentage (91.0 season), Most Digs (446 career) & (201 season).

Adrianna Nester               Anahiem, Calif.                 Western High School      Middle Blocker
3x Letter-winner at Middle Hitter; Adrianna will also be playing softball for the MMU Blue Angels. 

Autumn Peach                  Milwaukee, Wis.              Greenfield High School/ Kishwaukee College      Defensive Specialist
Autumn is receiving the full scholarship amount awarded to transfer students for academic achievements. 

Marissa Tun                        Greenfield, Wis.                   Greenfield High School                  Libero
2013 Woodland Conference Tournament; Team MVP (Club); 2012 Inaugural member of Block Party (Club); 2013 Milwaukee Rally member (Club).

"I am very excited to get started with this great group of recruits. They are not only talented softball players, but committed student-athletes as well," remarked Head Softball Coach Tim Edwards. With 13 newcomers, to an already deep roster, the softball team will have multiple options for lineups and can finally have an option to platoon more roles to bolster production against different pitching styles.

"The incoming recruited players and the walk-on players brings us to a great place to be more competitive," Head Soccer Coach Jon Gulrajani said. "Having the larger roster helps in training, position depth, and gives us more options as a team. I am excited to see the group interact in a few weeks."

Now the preseasons are just days away for each program. Student-athletes effort in the offseason is about to become evident, and now with a large new pack of Blue Angels, the continued growth of the Blue Angels Athletics Program is ready to show what all that hard work will do.

Follow the multiple Blue Angels team social media pages for more info on incoming players and other team updates. (Softball: @MMUFastpitch; Volleyball: @MountMaryVolleyball; Basketball: @MMUBlueAngels; more to come)

Also, keep up-to-date with all MMU sports at @MtMaryAthletics and MtMaryAthletics.com.