Washington State University Athletics
Cougar Volleyball Adds Nationally-Honored Freshmen
June 21, 2016 | Volleyball
PULLMAN, Wash. – The Washington State University volleyball team has added a pair of Under Armour All-American honorable mention team selections to the 2016 roster, Cougar Head Coach Jen Greeny announced Friday.
Joining the Cougars team in the fall are freshmen Alexis Dirige, a 5-2 defensive specialist/libero from San Francisco, Calif., and Trey Freitas, a 5-4 defensive specialist/libero from Makawao, Hawai'i.
"We are very excited in having Alexis and Trey join our program," Greeny said. "They will both improve our defense immensely. These two fit into our team culture. Alexis and Trey are selfless and passionate about the game that will serve them well in the Pac-12."
Dirige graduated last month from Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory in San Francisco, and led the Fighting Irish volleyball team to a 30-9 record her senior year. She was an All-West Coast Athletic League first team selection twice and a two-time second team selection. As a junior Dirige was a PrepVolleyball.com All-American, MaxPreps First Team All-American, and named to the USA Today All-USA high school volleyball team. She was selected to the USA Today preseason All-American third team and the MaxPreps preseason All-American team. At the end of her 2015 season, Dirige was an Under Armour All-American honorable mention, a PrepVolleyball.com All-American, a MaxPreps All-American, an AVCA All-American honorable mention, and was one of 13 players selected to the MaxPreps California Division III All-State volleyball team.
"Alexis is a defensive wizard," Greeny said. "She has great lateral quickness and an innate ability to read hitters. This combined with a fearlessness leads to a digging machine. She has the chance to play immediately as a freshman. We are fortunate to have Alexis choose us."
Freitas graduated from King Kekaulike High School in Pukalani, Maui, Hawai'i, where she was an outside hitter with a 36-inch vertical jump. Freitas was a two-time Maui Interscholastic League Division I Player of the Year as a junior and senior. As a sophomore, Freitas was on the USAV High Performance Girls Select National A3 Training Program. She was selected to the 2015 Under Armour All-American honorable mention team and AVCA All-America honorable mention team. She played on the Hawaiian Style Volleyball Club for her high school coach, Al Paschoal. Freitas graduated with honors from King Kekaulike.
"Trey comes from Maui with a wonderful all-around volleyball game synonymous with players from the islands. She actually was a very successful outside hitter despite her height," Greeny said. "Trey is very athletic, as she can jump, has great feet, and an arm that works. Her future will lie in the backcourt with us and we feel we have a very quality player who can play high level defense. We are thankful Trey is on our side."
The Cougars open the 2016 season at the Purdue Mortar Board Tournament, Aug. 26-27 in West Lafayette, Ind. The WSU home-opening matches will be Sept. 9-10 for the Cougar Challenge Tournament. Season tickets are on sale now and can be purchased and-or renewed at the Tickets link at wsucougars.com.
