Brown, Tippie Join Youngstown State Volleyball Program

by YSU

Thursday, Nov 21, 2013 2:56 pm

Youngstown State head volleyball coach Mark Hardaway is pleased to announce that Sam Brown and Morgan Tippie have signed a National Letter of Intent to continue their academic and volleyball careers at YSU. Brown is an outside hitter from Chicago, and Tippie is a middle hitter from Willougby, Ohio.

Brown registered 430 kills, 233 digs, 44 aces and 25 blocks as a senior at Nazareth Academy in LaGrange Park, Ill. She was named to multiple all-tournament teams, was selected to be on the Sun-Times All-Area Taem, and earned all-conference honors. She was also named the Suburban Life MVP and set a school record with 22 kills in a match. Nazareth advanced to the Class 3A sectional semifinals her junior year and went 29-7 her senior campaign. Volleyball talent runs in Brown’s family as her oldest sister Nicole played four years at the University of St. Francis, and her older sister Brittany is a setter at former Horizon League school Loyola.

“Sam Brown was our first commitment in this class, and she brings a tremendous amount of high-level volleyball experience to YSU,” Hardaway said. “She is a very skilled six rotation outside hitter who has developed her game with one of the top club teams in the country. Playing with 1st Alliance Volleyball Club out of Chicago has exposed Sam to playing volleyball against some of the best players in the country on a regular basis. She understands the game and is ready now to compete at the Division-I level. With the graduation of Missy Hundelt, we needed another six rotation player who could be counted on for both some offense and some defense.”

Tippie earned Honorable Mention All-Ohio honors at Willoughby South this past season while registering school-record totals of 364 kills and 97 blocks. For her career she set school records for matches played and started with 98, solo blocks with 130 and block assists with 84. She also set a school single-match record as a senior with 10 aces against Chardon. She was a First-Team All-Premier Athletic Conference as a junior and a senior, and she led Willoughby South to its fourth conference title in school history as a junior. She earned an OHSVCA scholastic award each of her four years.

“Morgan Tippie brings much-needed size to our program, but that is not the main reason we recruited her,” Hardaway said. “It is the work ethic that goes with her size that we are excited about. In talking with her high school and club coaches, it was very evident that Morgan will go the extra mile. She reminds me a lot of Nichele Johnson, who has become a very good right-side attacker for us. Morgan can already do things that will help our program, but there is no doubt in my mind that she will work hard and take her game to the next level.”

Youngstown State will play in the first match of the Horizon League Tournament on Friday against Green Bay in Milwaukee.

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