Volleyball Lures Juco All-American

NORMAN, Okla. The Oklahoma volleyball team announced the signing of Eliane Santos to a National Letter of Intent on Friday morning. Santos is a 6-2 middle blocker for the College of Southern Idaho and will transfer from the junior college ranks to OU in the fall of 2005.

The excitement around the signing of the Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, native couldn't be any higher within the program. Santos, who was a second team NJCAA All-American in 2003, is widely considered one of best players at the junior college level. CSI, which has won seven of the last 11 NJCAA national championships, is currently ranked No. 3 in the NJCAA Poll and has a 40-3 record.

2004 Stats | 2003 Stats

Santos, currently a sophomore for CSI, has led the charge for the Golden Eagles. She is averaging 4.07 kills per game while hitting at .375 clip. She also is tallying 2.52 digs, 0.48 aces and 1.35 blocks per game. She leads the Scenic West Athletic Conference (SWAC) in kills, while ranking third in hitting percentage, third in blocks, fourth in aces and ninth in digs per game.

“She will come into our program and immediately be one of the best offensive players in the Big 12,” said OU head coach Santiago Restrepo. “She is the type of athlete that can carry a team and immediately elevate their level of play.”

Restrepo continued, “She is a great blocker with a huge vertical. She is an extremely hard hitter and has great floor knowledge. Eliane has all the skills and will add a lot of physicality, power and speed to our team.”

The first time the current coaching staff saw Santos play was against Pac 10 powerhouse Stanford. Santos dominated the match and paced CSI to the spring season victory.

“We knew immediately that we should pursue this athlete,” said OU assistant coach Steve Loeswick, who attended the match against Stanford. “She is a similar athlete to former Hawaii All-American and AVCA Player-of- the-Year Kim Willoughby.”

Santos gave her verbal commitment to the OU program early this fall.

When Santos arrives next fall she will have two remaining years of eligibility. The OU staff expects to plug her in as a starting middle blocker.

The 22-year old is married to Carlos Santos and the couple has a 3-year old daughter Maria.

Current OU senior Keri Coats also attended CSI and transferred to OU after her sophomore campaign.