Johnson-Lynch Adds Three for 2011

AMES, Iowa - The Iowa State volleyball team and head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch added three players to the 2011 squad on Wednesday. Tory Knuth (Johnston, Iowa), Taylor Goetz (Ankney, Iowa) and Victoria Hurtt (Kansas City, Mo.) will join the Cyclones next season.

The 2010 Des Moines Register Player of the Year, Knuth, a middle blocker, also is a finalist for the Gatorade Player of the Year award which recognizes outstanding high school athletes throughout the country.

"Tory Knuth is a prototypical middle blocker," Johnson-Lynch said. "She's got long arms, big hands and a great build to excel at that position. I believe she has the potential to become a dominant middle blocker at this level. She has a great understanding of the game and is a very intimidating blocker, the kind of blocker that makes opponents change their shots."

The sister of current Cyclone Taylor Knuth, the 6-3 Knuth won a state championship at Johnston High School as a freshman. As a senior, Knuth averaged 4.6 kills per game for Johnston.

Over her career, Knuth was recognized three times as an all-conference selection and twice as an all-state selection. This year's conference and state selections have not yet been released.

Knuth, a member of the Iowa Power Volleyball Association club team, was named to both the 2010 Des Moines Register All-CMIL Elite Team and the Under Armour All-American Watch List and was recognized by Prepvolleyball.com as a Senior Ace and a Class of 2011 top 50 recruit.

A two-sport standout, Knuth is a letter winner in basketball, earning second team all-conference honors.

Academic excellence landed Knuth academic all-conference recognition in 2007-09. This year's conference selections have not yet been released.

Goetz, a 5-6 setter and defensive specialist from Ankeny High School, averaged 5.1 assists per set and 1.5 digs per set this season for the Hawkettes and, like Knuth, was named to the 2010 Des Moines Register All-CMIL Elite Team and the Under Armour All-American Watch List. For her defensive prowess, Prepvolleyball.com named Goetz a Defensive Dandy.

"We anticipate using Taylor as both a setter and defensive player," Johnson-Lynch said. "She is very fast and has great reactions. Taylor has the mindset and the athletic ability to contribute in either of those positions. She's an incredibly hard worker and is a great fit for our program."

With Goetz starting at setter, Ankney was conference, regional and state champion in both 2008 and 2009, finishing each season ranked in the top 25 by PrepVolleyball.com.

Goetz is a team captain and four-year member, again with Knuth, of the IVPA club team that was both an open national and divisional national qualifier.

As strong in the classroom as she is on the court, Goetz won the presidential award for excellence and the all-conference academic award at Ankney.

Hurtt is an outside hitter and four-time Missouri Class 3 champion at Archbishop O'Hara High School in Kansas City and is a finalist for this year's Evelyn Gate Award which honors a high school varsity volleyball player in the Kansas City metro area.

"Tori will be very fun to watch," Johnson-Lynch said. "During the recruiting process, I was especially impressed with her ability to take over both offensively and defensively. She's got a very powerful arm and can terminate. Although she has played mostly middle blocker during her career, we will look at her primarily as an outside hitter."

A standout from her freshman season, the 6-2 Hurtt garnered all-state, all-conference, all-district and all-metro honors in all four years at ArchBishop O'Hara and was a finalist for both freshman and sophomore of the year awards. In her final season at ArchBishop O'Hara, Hurtt, like Knuth, was named a PrepVolleyball.com Senior Ace.

Also a three-year letter winner in basketball, Hurtt is a member of the Kansas City Extreme club team and was an all-tournament team selection in 2007.

Players Mentioned

Taylor Knuth

Taylor Knuth

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