Volleyball Bulldogs Sign Middle Blocker Lauren Kowal
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State University has signed Lauren Kowal, a 6-2 middle blocker from Chesterfield, Mo., to a national letter of intent, MSU head volleyball coach Tina Seals announced this week.
Kowal is a transfer from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she competed the past two season. She is enrolled at Mississippi State this semester, is participating in Mississippi State's spring volleyball training and will be eligible to compete as a junior at MSU this fall.
"We are elated to have Lauren join our team this spring," said Seals. "She has a strong physical presence on the court and her blocking ability will impact our team significantly."
A two-time letter-winner at Xavier, Kowal played in 12 matches and drew one start as a sophomore in 2005. She totaled 26 kills, hit .258 and at the net registered 19 total blocks, five of them solo blocks. She saw playing time as a reserve player in 10 matches as a freshman with nine kills, a .304 hitting percentage, one dig and six assisted blocks.
She was an all-district and first-team all-conference selection as a senior at St. Louis' Ursuline Academy. Kowal was a teammate of current MSU players Megan Lukasek and Jamie Joyner on the St. Louis CYC Club Team that captured the gold medal at the 2004 USA Junior Olympics held in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was also invited to participate in the USA Youth Junior A2 Program in Colorado Springs, Colo., and the High Performance/A2 National Training Program in Austin, Texas.
The MSU signee is the daughter of Elmer and Denise Kowal of Chesterfield, Mo.