Contact: Renee Adam

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CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Cleveland State volleyball program has added four players to the lineup for the 2013 season, as Taylor Angel (Notre Dame Academy/Union, Ky.), Grace Kauth(Chaminade Julienne Catholic/Vandalia, Ohio), Sydney Mast (Central Christian/Millersburg, Ohio) and Aaliyah Slappy (Centennial/Columbus, Ohio) have signed National Letters of Intent to attend Cleveland State beginning next fall.

"All four of our signees are great athletes and winners - two traits that we look for when recruiting," head coach Chuck Voss said. "We are losing a lot of starters after this season, which gives each of them an opportunity to make an immediate impact next fall. All four of them have the ability to play multiple positions, which will help us become more flexible in the future."

Angel, a 6-foot-1 outside/rightside hitter from Notre Dame Academy, joins the Vikings after leading her team to a pair of state semifinal appearances and an overall record of 118-38 during her prep career. As a senior, Angel was named to the Under Armour All-American Watch List and earned a spot on the NKGVCA All-Region Team. She was recognized as a PrepVolleyball.com Top-100 Freshman and a PrepVolleyball.com Top-79 Sophomore Honorable Mention, and was on the High Performance A-2 Select Top-50 (fr.) and High Performance A-2 Youth Top-48 (So.).

"Taylor will bring leadership, athleticism and a great sense of the game. She has played at a high level for a long time now, and we expect her to continue that when she arrives at CSU," Voss said. 

Kauth is a 5-foot-10 outside hitter that will come to Cleveland State after earning four letters at Chaminade Julienne. Kauth was a three-time member of the All-League First Team (So., Jr., Sr.) and the All-District First Team (So., Jr., Sr.), while also being named to the All-State First Team as a junior. She was named the league Player of the Year twice (Jr., Sr.), and picked up District Player of the Year honors as a senior. Throughout high school, Kauth tallied over 1,000 kills and led her team to a GGCL championship as a senior.

"Grace comes from a great athletic family, in which her parents and siblings all played Division I athletics. She has great ball control and will have a chance to be a six rotation player during her time as a Viking," Voss said.

Mast, a 6-foot-1 middle/outside hitter from Central Christian, joins the Vikings after an excellent high school campaign. Throughout her career, Mast garnered All-District Honorable Mention (Fr.), All-District First Team (So., Jr.), All-Ohio Second Team (Sr.) and District 4 Player of the Year (Sr.) honors, while setting seven records at Central Christian. She finished her prep career ranked first in career kills (1,103), career solo blocks (180), career block assists (155), season kills (507-Sr.), season attack attempts (945-Sr.) and season solo blocks (75-Sr.).

"Sydney has the ability to raise the level of play of everyone around her. She plays with great emotion and has a never quit mentality that will translate well to the collegiate game," Voss said.

Slappy is a 6-foot middle blocker that will join the Vikings after a successful career at Centennial High School. During her prep career, Slappy earned All-Conference honors as a freshman and sophomore and was named to the All-City First Team as a senior.

"Alliyah is a fantastic athlete who has been playing at a high level for a few years now. She has a great work ethic and will definitely push for playing time right away," Voss said.

"Taylor, Grace, Sydney and Aaliyah all have the chance to be special players at Cleveland State. This is possibly the best recruiting class that we have had during my 13 years here," Voss said.