Ping, Sherman Added to 2016 Volleyball Freshmen Class

HOUGHTON, Mich. – Michigan Tech volleyball coach Matt Jennings today announced the additions of two players to the 2016 freshmen class as Rachel Ping (Batavia, Ill.) and Sydney Sherman (Rockford, Ill.) have signed National Letters of Intent to join the Huskies next fall.

Ping was a two-year member of the Rosary High School varsity team and spent four years competing for the Club Fusion South squad. A 6-foot-1 middle blocker, Ping is an exceptional student who has earned numerous academic honors during her high school career and plans to major in biomedical engineering and physics at Michigan Tech.

"Rachel adds talent and immediate depth to our front row," said Jennings. "She is a very active player out of the middle who works hard to challenge every ball on defense, while consistently transitioning quickly to attack. Rachel has a lot to offer our team – both on the court and off it – and we're certainly excited to have her coming to Tech."

Sherman, a 6-foot-3 middle blocker, joins the Huskies after playing her high school volleyball for Keith Country Day School. A two-time all-conference selection, Sherman helped lead her team to the 2014 Illinois state championship. Sherman has also played four years with Club Fusion and is an honor roll student.

"Sydney will be a presence for us at the net in a variety of ways," said Jennings. "She has great height, impressive arm-swing and is crafty and controlled. Her vision and speed are also very good, which makes her someone who can score points on both sides of the net. Sydney will be a great fit for this team."

Ping and Sherman join Kristine Fink (Scarsdale, N.Y.), MacAulay Petersen (Paw Paw, Mich.) and Emilia Widen (Burnsville, Minn.) to round out the incoming freshmen class for 2016.

"Our incoming class overall is outstanding," said Jennings. "We are excited to have Rachel, Sydney, Kristine, MacAulay and Emilia joining the Michigan Tech volleyball family here in Houghton. Each of them is smart, responsible and competitive, and there's no doubt they'll all add something unique to the program and the community."

Michigan Tech is coming off one of its most successful volleyball seasons in recent memory in which it notched its highest win total (19) since 2008, including a program-record 10-0 start to the campaign.