Kats add six to the roster
6/17/2024 1:12:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
HUNTSVILLE – The Sam Houston volleyball program has rounded out the 2024 roster with the addition of five more student-athletes announced Wednesday by head coach Brenda Gray. Â
Head Coach Brenda Gray: "This is the largest signing class we have ever had. We have signed nine, three in the early (Sameena, Chelsea, and Shaelin) signing period in the fall and six more in the spring. Piper and Lylah will provide maturity and experience in two key positions for us this fall. Audrey and Talan have won at every level and are both coming off state championships, while playing massive roles in their teams' success. Lillian has a heavy arm that scores in all zones and Kara utilizes her toolkit to be efficient. Both will fight for roles on either pin this fall. We are thrilled to add this young-women and families to our program."Â
2024 Bearkat Volleyball Signing ClassÂ
Piper Boydstun • S • 5-6 • Spring, Texas / Oak Ridge HS / Northwestern StateÂ
Boydstun brings a wealth of immediate experience to the setter role for the Kats with 82 career matches played over the past three seasons. She has put up over 500 assists each of the last three years for the Demons with 1,556 career assists to her credit and an average of 5.56 per set. Â
Away from the court, Boydstun served as President of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) from 2022-2024 and was named the 2024 Demon/Student-Athlete of the Year. She made the Dean's/President's list all three years of college and won the 2023 Southland Conference Community Service Initiative. Boydstun graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2024 with a Bachelor of Business Administration.Â
Lylah Washington • OH • 5-9 • San Antonio, Texas / Reagan HS / LehighÂ
Washington returns to the Lone Star State after four seasons in the Patriot League, playing 77 career matches at Lehigh. Originally from San Antonio's Reagan high School, she played for Alamo Volleyball Club before joining the Hawks' program for the 2020 season where she retained her initial year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Â
At Lehigh, Washington averaged 1.77 kills per set, including 2.06 kills per set in 21 matches in 2023. A team captain during her junior and senior years, she held leadership roles as Uplifting Athletes Lehigh Chapter Leader, Student-Athletes of Color Co-captain, and Team Impact Leader. She was a TRAC Peer Writing Mentor from her sophomore to senior years, part of the Flight 45 Executive Board and served on the Lehigh NCAA Transformation Committee. Â
Lillian Hamilton • OH • 6-1 • Fort Worth, Texas / Timber Creek HSÂ
Hamilton, a standout from Timber Creek High School and Dallas Skyline Juniors, achieved a career school record for kills (1,003) and blocks (181). She was a three-time All-District selection and a four-time Academic All-District honoree. Additionally, Hamilton made the AVCA Watch List. In club volleyball, she was selected for the Under Armour Next Camp and earned a medal in the GJNC Open Division.Â
Talan Dodson • OH • 5-10 • San Antonio, Texas / Comal Davenport HS (Alamo)Â
Dodson was a Davenport High School standout, being named Academic All-District all four years and Academic All-State as a senior. Recognized as Unanimous District MVP in volleyball during her junior and senior years, Dodson was an honor roll student throughout high school. Â
Selected for the Texas Girls Coaches Association All-Star and All-State teams in 2022 and 2023, Dodson was named Volleyball State Championship MVP in 2023. She was awarded Texas High School Coaches Association Offensive Player of the Year in 2023. Â
Dodson also served as varsity volleyball captain for four years and earned multiple Express News honors, including seven Game Balls, Player of the Week, All-Area Volleyball Team and Volleyball Player of the Year in 2023. Recognized as Athlete of the Month three times and ranked in the top nine percent of the 2024 graduating class.Â
Audrey Terry • S/DS • 5-7 • Spring, Texas / Grand Oaks HSÂ
Terry, from Grand Oaks High School and TAV Houston, plans to major in Kinesiology. As a high school athlete, Terry was part of the 2023 6A State Championship team, ranked No. 2 nationally and was featured on the AVCA HS All-American Watch List. Â
She earned multiple honors, including 1st Team All-District, GHVCA Post-Season Team and Vype All-Houston 2nd Team. Terry received the Setter of the Tournament Award twice, the 2023 Leadership Award, the 2021 Heart and Hustle Award and was named MVP in 2020. Academically, she was a consistent Academic All-District honoree from 2020-2023, a National Honor Society member and received the Outstanding Citizen Award. In club volleyball, Terry won the 2018 All-Star Award at AAU and secured a 3rd place finish in 2021's Patriot Division.Â
She will join her older sister, Ava, on the Bearkats' roster.Â
Kara Wynn • OH • 5-9 • Austin, Texas / Pflugerville Hendrickson HSÂ
Wynn joins the Kats after a prep career at Hendrickson High School where she also played for Austin Juniors Volleyball and Austin Skyline Volleyball. She plans to major in Computer Science at Sam Houston.Â
Her high school accomplishments include being named 2023 HHS Player of the Week, District MVP and making the All-Tournament Team at the 9th Annual Jason Landers Tournament in Austin. Wynn served on the ASJ Leadership Council (2022-2023) and has been a National Honor Society member since 2022. She was recognized as Academic All-District in 2021-2022 and made the 1st Team All-District Volleyball from 2021-2023. Â
She earned the HHS Hawk Volleyball Offensive MVP award for 2022-2023. In club volleyball, Wynn was listed on the AVCA Phenom Watch List and participated in the 2022 AVCA Phenom Showcase in Omaha.Â
