Beach Volleyball adds eight to 2019 roster

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi head beach volleyball coach Gayle Stammer has announced the additions of eight signees to the 2019 roster. Brooke Adkisson, Fanny Ahman, Leal Ceriani, Emma Coudon, Anna Erftenbeck, Jenna Jones, Hannah Smyers and Lily Sears will all take to the sand for the Islanders this spring.
 
"I'm very excited with this group of girls," said Stammer. " This is my first recruiting class for the Islanders and they're a promising bunch. They have a great energy that they bring to the team and it raises the overall level of play in each and every one of my athletes. We've added some international players who's work ethic and experience sets a great example of the quality of athlete we want to see in all our Islanders. I hold my athletes to a high standard and they all show up everyday with a determination to exceed my expectations."
   
Ahman was a member of Sweden's indoor national team that won the European Silver League in 2018 and was also voted the best libero in the U19 North European Championship Tournament in 2017. On the beach, she has won championships in the U20, U18 and Swedish Beach Tour. She won the U19 North European Championships and also took third in the Swedish Championships main division. She played for the IKSU Volleyball club for five years with coach Bjorn Harnerud. Ahman lists her hometown as Umea, Sweden.

Coudon was a semi finalist at the U17 French Championships in 2015 for PL Lyon Vilette and coach Michael Dujardin. She won a silver medal at the U-15 National Beach Championship. From 2016-18, Coudon was at the National team training center in Toulouse and was a runner up for selection with the French U-19 National Team for the 2017 European Championships. The Lyon, France, native graduated from Lycee Bellevue-Toulouse.

Ceriani begins her first season of beach volleyball after playing four seasons of indoor at UT Martin and East Carolina University. For the Pirates in 2017, Ceriani appeared in 33 matches and 124 total sets. She notched 375 kills and recorded 268 digs during her senior season. She was named the Western League Player of the Year and was an All-San Diego Section first team honoree at Scripps Ranch High School in San Diego, Calif.
 
Adkisson was an all district performer for coach Jason Kaiser in 2017-18. She graduated from Johnson High School in San Antonio.

Sears graduated from Justin Wakeland High School in Frisco, Texas. She played club volleyball for 692 Dallas and coach Billy Carmack. She plans on majoring in nursing at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

Erftenbeck played for the Ohio Valley Beach club for five years for coach Rob Long. She took first place at the AAU Nationals in Orlando, Fla., in 2015 and earned a second place finish in the N.V.L. Qualifier in Columbus, Ohio, in 2017. Erftenbeck was named to the academic honor roll at Lakota West High School in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Jones was named the state's Utility Player of the Year as a senior at Richland High School. She was a first team all-district and first team all-academic all-district performer and was her team's MVP all four seasons, leading the team in digs and kills. She played club volleyball for 692 for two seasons. In the classroom, she graduated in the top 10 percent of her class and was a member of the National Honors Society during her junior and senior years.
 
At Kentucky State, Smyers helped lead the Thorobreds to a 2017 SIAC indoor volleyball championship and was named the schools Rookie of the Year. She played club volleyball for Texstar Volleyball Club for six years. The former Needville High School standout helped lead her team to a pair of district titles and earned district MVP honors as a senior before playing her first two seasons at Temple College.