STANFORD, Calif. – Five student-athletes have signed National Letters of Intent to attend Stanford and compete for the beach volleyball team, head coach Andrew Fuller announced this week.
They are Ellie Gamberdella from San Marcos High School in Santa Barbara, Calif; Maya Harvey from Redondo Union High School in Hermosa Beach, Calif; Xolani Hodel from Huntington Beach High School in Huntington Beach, Calif; Kate Reilly from Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, Calif; and Emmy Sharp from Burlingame High School in Burlingame, Calif.
"The signing of Ellie, Maya, Xolani, Kate and Emmy bring a dynamic, energetic and competitive group to the Stanford beach volleyball family," said Fuller. "They have the athleticism and collective mindset necessary to thrive at the next level and will bring heaps of enthusiasm to The Farm. They are outstanding young women on every level, and we are excited to support their diverse interests in engineering, astrophysics, music, language and more."
The 5-10 Gamberdella was the Channel League Player of the Year for indoor volleyball as a junior and was a first team all-Channel League setter a sophomore and junior for San Marcos. She was named as her school's Most Valuable Player in beach and indoor volleyball and competes for the No. 1 Pair at San Marcos High.
The 6-1 Sharp was the Monterey Beach Open tournament champion three times, the BVNE tournament winner in June of 2018, and helped Burlingame High capture the 2016 and 2019 CCS titles.
Reilly competed for USA Beach Volleyball A1 for U17 and U19 and is a three-time Interscholastic Beach Volleyball League State champion. The 5-10 Reilly won the Team Mustang and Captain Award for the 2017 girls volleyball team and earned first-team all-Bay League for varsity volleyball (2017). She also claimed 2017 and 2019 Mira Costa Pairs championships for indoor volleyball and placed third at the 2018 BVCA.
The 5-10 Harvey was named the 2019 AAU National Player of the Year and finished ninth at the 2018 FIVB U19 World Championships. She has participated on the USA Beach Volleyball A1 U17 and U19 teams. Harvey also won the Interscholastic League World Championships in Italy in October of 2019.
Hodel was AVP First U16 champion in 2018 and finished first in the USA High Performance Championships U19 in 2019 after being chosen to the USA Beach Volleyball A1 roster. The 6-1 Hodel holds a AAA rating in the California Beach Volleyball Association and received the Huntington Beach High Scholar Athlete Award for competing in basketball, volleyball, track and soccer, and the Al Reboin Award for being a four-sport athlete. She was the most valuable player of her indoor volleyball team, was selected named Orange County Athlete of the Week for soccer.
