Horn signs four for 2005

ACU coach adds one from Amarillo, 3 from Metroplex

ABILENE -- ACU head coach Brek Horn announced on Wednesday that she has inked four players to binding national letters-of-intent, including a pair of teammates from Arlington Lamar's  district championship squad.

Signing with the Wildcats were Erin Curry and Lauren Leone from Arlington Lamar High School, Alex Houston from Amarillo High School and MaryJo Hampton from Richland High School in Fort Worth.

Curry and Leone were part of a Lamar Viking squad that won the District 7-5A title and beat cross-town rival Arlington High for the first time in eight years.  both players were named first team all-district in 2004.

Leone was a second team all-district selection in 2003 and was a 2004 honorable mention all-state selection at middle blocker.  She finished the 2004 season with 268 kills, 94 total blocks and 55 digs while hitting .337.

Houston was part of an Amarillo High team that finished 44-4 on the season and reached the Region I-5A semifinals.  She played in 58 games at setter/rightside hitter as a senior before tearing the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her right knee.  Until then, she had 101 kills and 150 digs.  As a junior she played in 86 games and had 113 kills and 113 digs.  As a senior she was a team captain and academic all-state, and she was honorable mention all-district as a junior.

Hampton was a first team all-District 5-5A selection as a senior in 2004 when she was named co-Hitter of the Year in the district.  A two-time team captain, she was a first team all-District 6-4A selection as a junior, and she was honorable mention all-district as a sophomore.

ACU finished 28-8 in 2004 and won the school's first Lone Star Conference championship in volleyball and reached the NCAA Division II Southwest Region Tournament for the first time in school history.  The Wildcats will return five starters from last year's team in 2005, including middle blocker Amanda Slate, who as a junior in 2004 became the first Wildcat volleyball player to ever be named LSC South Division MVP and first team all-region.