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March 6, 2007
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – University of Virginia head volleyball coach Melissa Aldrich Shelton has announced the signing of Kelly Irvin (Pacific Palisades, Calif./Marymount) to a national letter of intent with UVa. Irvin, who will set for Virginia, will enroll for the 2007-08 academic year and begin playing for the Cavaliers in the fall of 2007. Irvin has been named to PrepVolleyball.com’s top 100 recruits for the class of 2007. She is ranked 14th out of setting recruits across the nation.
“Kelly’s accomplishments as a volleyball player are impressive,” said Shelton. “In my 12 years at UVA, Kelly is the most well-rounded volleyball player we have signed. She has the knowledge, skill and athletic ability to play quite a few positions for us, but we will be concentrating her training at the setter’s spot. We are all excited to see what Kelly will accomplish as a Cavalier.”
Irvin, 5-9, was a three-year varsity starter and two-year co-captain of the Marymount High School volleyball team. Irvin helped lead Marymount to the 2006 California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section (SS) Division IV regional title as well as the 2006 CIF Div. IA state championship. She was named to the state all-tournament team in 2006 and was also a first-team All-CIF selection. For her play as a high school junior, Irvin was selected as a PrepVolleyball.com High School All-American as she led her team to the CIF SS Division IV championship and the semifinal of the state tournament. In 2005 she was also named the Sunshine League MVP and CIF Southern Section (SS) Div. IV Co-Player of the Year by the coaches’ selection committee.
Irvin has played club volleyball for nine years. She has been captain all four years that she has played for Gene’s Team Volleyball Club. She led her team to the bronze medal at the 2006 USA Junior Olympics in the 17 Open Division and was named to the all-tournament team as a setter/hitter. She also led Gene’s Team to first place at the 2006 Las Vegas Classic, the 2006 Far Western Junior Olympic Qualifier, and North East and Southern Cal Junior Olympic Qualifiers in 2005.
Irvin is also an accomplished beach volleyball player. She was a gold medalist at the 2006 USA Volleyball Beach Junior Olympics which qualified her and her partner as the sole team to represent the USA at the SWATCH FIVB U19 World Championships in Bermuda where they finished ninth out of 24 teams. She won the gold medal at the AAU Beach National Championships in 2005 and the bronze medal at the 2004 USA Beach Volleyball Junior Olympics. Irvin was honored as the 2005 AAU Beach Player of the Year.
Shelton has already announced the signing of rightside Kendahl Voelker (Fort Myers, Fla./Canterbury).