The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Volleyball Signs Alison Woods, Ariadne Alcantara
4/30/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
April 30, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB volleyball program has announced the signing of Alison Woods and Ariadne Alcantara to National Letters of Intent. Both student-athletes will compete for the Blazers in the upcoming 2009 season.
Woods comes to UAB as a setter from Centennial High School in Franklin, Tenn., where she lettered four years in volleyball for coach Sharon Rhinehart. She captained her team for four years and was named team MVP in each of her seasons. She also earned recognition as one of PrepVolleyball.com's Top 79 Sophomores in 2007 and as an honorable mention All-American in 2009. An all-district and first-team all-state selection, Woods holds single-season records at Centennial for service aces (174), assists (1,422) and digs (264).
At the club level, Woods has been the setter for two national championship teams (2006 and 2008) from Impact Volleyball Club in Nashville. Her current team recently won the SRVA Power Regionals to earn a spot in the 18-under national tournament. For six years she has co-captained her Impact team with Samantha Serley, another UAB signee.
"Alison is a smart player and a tremendous decision-maker," UAB head coach Kerry Messersmith said. "She has led two national championship teams and played with and against elite players. We're very excited to have her join our program, and she is someone who will step in and help us right away."
Alcantara, a native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, was a two-year standout for coach Kimberly Boone at Midland College in Texas. She was a two-time All-Western Junior College Athletic Conference performer and a two-time all-region selection at the school. In her first season in 2007, she posted 3.64 kills and 4.46 digs per set, vaulting her to preseason All-American status in 2008.
This past season, Alcantara helped Midland to a 34-10 overall record and a second-place finish in the WJCAC. An outside hitter, Alcantara led her Midland team with 3.2 kills per set in 2008. She also finished the campaign with a .248 attack percentage, while adding 2.9 digs and 0.8 blocks per set.
"Ariadne is a versatile player with great ball-control skills," Messersmith said. "She has a great knowledge of the game, and we are thrilled to sign a player of her caliber. She will also make an immediate impact for us. Ariadne reminds our staff a lot of Fernanda Domingos, who was a standout player for us here at UAB."
Woods and Alcantara join Serley, who signed last fall during the early signing period, in the Blazers' current recruiting class.
