CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi head volleyball coach
Steve Greene has announced four additions to the Islanders' 2019 roster. This year's incoming class includes four Texas natives in Carissa Barnes from Weatherford, Faith Panhans from Plano, Kaitlin Sams from Katy and Kathryn Skrobarczyk from Corpus Christi.
"Each of these student-athletes understands the game at a very high level and will be able to assimilate to the college game seamlessly," said Greene. "Carissa, Faith, Kaitlin and Katie are all great people and teammates and we are thrilled to be bringing these four tremendous student-athletes to the Island."
At Weatherford High School, Carissa Barnes, a 5-7 outside hitter / libero, helped lead her team to four district titles and a pair of area championships. She was an all-district performer four times and earned MVP and first-team all-district honors as a junior after being named honorable mention as a sophomore and second team and co-hitter of the year as a freshman for coach Nicholas Gay. Barnes has earned academic all-district honors all four seasons and plans to major in Kinesiology. She played for Club Texas Volleyball four seven years with coach Christy Aguilar. She was an all-tournament selection at the 2018 Girls' Junior National Tournament. Her team has qualified for nationals each of the past five years. In 2018, Barnes and her club took third in the 17 American Division at the GJNC.
Panhans was a 2017 All-State performer at Plano Senior High School in Plano, Texas. The 5-11 setter has over 2,600 career varsity assists and has a career-high of 61 assists in a single match. While at Plano HS, Panhans earned first team academic all-district honors as a junior and was an honorable mention all-academic performer as a sophomore for coach Teri Minnis. She played for coach Andy Gass at the Summit Volleyball Club, leading the team to four-straight USAV Open Nationals. While with Summit, Panhans took third in the 2017 USAV Open Nationals, third in the 2018 Windy City National Qualifier and was fourth at the Disney Volleyball Showcase. She plans to major in interdisciplinary studies on the Island.
Sams played for coach Donna Bennotti at Cy-Fair High School where she was a two-time academic all-district performer. Her versatility has allowed her to play multiple positions. She has played club for Houston Juniors, most recently the 5-11 setter / right side played club for the Houston Skyline Juniors and coach Jonathan Robles, helping lead the team to a fifth place finish at Junior Nationals. Sams was also a member of the National Honor Society and was a SNHS member. She will be majoring in Marine Biology.
Skrobarczyk, a 6-2 middle blocker, was a three-time all-district performer for coach Tom Messner at Incarnate Word Academy, earning first team honors as a senior. She served as team captain for two years while being named to the honor roll all four years. She received the Science Department Award for Outstanding Achievement in Aquatic Science and the Technology Department Award for Outstanding Achievement in Communication Applications. Skrobbarczyk played club for the Corpus Christi Legacy, the Corpus Christi Crossfire and most recently, for the San Antonio Force Darkside. During her club career she qualified for the USAV Junior Nationals, In 2016, she helped lead her team USA High Performance Championships. She plans to major in Marine Biology here on the Island.
