HONOLULU – University of Hawai'i men's volleyball coach
Charlie Wade announced the signing of a pair of high school standouts for the 2011 season. Shane Popelka of Chesapeake, Va., and Shane Welch of Coral Springs, Fla., signed their Letters of Intent during the early signing period.
“By signing both players, we addressed our immediate need which is in the middle,” Wade said. “We'll lose a pair of senior middles in Matt (Rawson) and Steven (Grgas) and both Shane Popelka and Shane Welch are capable of filling those spots.”
Popelka, a 6-foot-8 middle blocker, is a senior at Great Bridge High School in Chesapeake, Va.. He led his team to the state semifinals last year while earning all-district first team honors. Popelka also stars on the Great Bridge boys basketball team, where he is listed among the top 250 power forward prospects in the country.
“Popelka is a multi-sport athlete who is also a highly rated basketball player,” Wade said. “Once he focuses on just volleyball, he'll become a really good collegiate player. He's also a very good student with a GPA of over 4.0.”
Welch, a 6-foot-9 middle blocker/outside hitter, is a senior at Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., and was named to Volleyball Magazine's “Boys 34 Underclassman to Watch.” He had 24 kills in Douglas' regional playoff loss to Spanish River last year. Welch participated in the 2008 USA Volleyball High Performance team and plays club ball with Ocean Bay. He was also named to the 2009 Junior Olympic all-tournament team.
“Welch is considered one of the top middle prospects in this class but he's not limited to just the middle,” Wade said. “We see him potentially as a six-rotation scoring player and we're fortunate to sign a player of his caliber as he was heavily recruited by other programs.”
The late signing period is in April and Wade expects to sign a few more players at that time. The 2010 men's volleyball season begins in January.
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