Marquette volleyball head coach Ryan Theis announced the addition of a pair of sophomore transfers in a press release Thursday morning to the 2022 roster: Aubrey Hamilton and Yadhira Anchante.
Hamilton previously played for Notre Dame while Anchante is joining the squad from Iowa Western Community College. Both players will have three years of NCAA eligibility and will start at Marquette in the upcoming spring semester per the release.
“We are very excited about these two additions,” Theis said in a statement. “Our roster is really young right now so adding two players with some collegiate experience will make us stronger.”
Hamilton, who hails from Hartland, Wisconsin, led the Irish in her sophomore season with 316 kills along with 12 service aces, 85 digs and 48 blocks.
The 6-foot-2 outside hitter attended Arrowhead High School, where she help led the Warhawks to their first state championship as a senior in 2019. She also earned Wisconsin Gatorade Player of the Year honors that season.
“As a local product, we’ve been familiar with Aubrey for a long time,” Theis said. “She has a terrific arm and can score a lot of points from the front and back row. We expect her to be a big contributor for us and are happy she chose to continue her collegiate career back home.”
Anchante is a two-time NJCAA Division I National Player of the Year and led the Reivers to consecutive NJCAA Division I national titles.
The Lima, Peru, native, led the country with 11.34 assists per set and finished second in the nation with 1,554 total assists this season. In the NJCAA national semifinal and finals this season, Anchante recovered over 50 assists.
“This fall we started looked into some junior college players and Yadira popped out at us,” Theis said. “She’s a great teammate and locates hitters very well. We are excited to get her into the gym this spring and look forward to seeing what made her such a winner the past two seasons.”
Hamilton and Anchante are set to join a Marquette squad that has posted a 26-6 overall and 16-2 BIG EAST record this season. Additionally, the Golden Eagles finished as runner-ups in the BIG EAST for the fifth straight year and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Both will have an opportunity to contribute right away in Theis’s program as the Golden Eagles are set to lose seven players from this past season’s roster due to graduation.
This article was written by Jackson Gross. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @JacksonGrossMU.
