Women's Volleyball Adds Paige Folger, Kathleen Wright

Paige Folger is a 6-1 middle blocker from St. Francis high in Sacramento, Calif. As a senior, Folger finished the season with 217 kills, 139 total blocks, 81 digs, 24 aces and 13 assists. St. Francis ended the 2011 campaign with a 38-6 overall mark, a perfect 10-0 record in the Delta River Valley League and won the San Joaquin State Section Championships. For her efforts, Folger was named Sacramento All-City, Sacramento Bee All-Metro and earned Delta River Valley League Sportsmanship Award. As a member of the Northern California Volleyball Club, Folger won the NCVC Junior National Open Division in both 2010 and 2011.

"Paige has been a member of the St. Francis High School team, who is an annual fixture deep into the California High School State Tournament, as well as a member of the Northern California Volleyball Club (NCVC), who is a regional powerhouse and an annual qualifier for the Junior Olympic tournament,” stated Gonzaga head coach Dave Gantt. "As a result, she has received excellent coaching and a very strong sense of how to contribute to high level programs.”

“Paige is an excellent student, a very good athlete, and a wonderful young lady who understands what ‘team’ is all about. Her volleyball playing experience is beginning to catch up with her athleticism, and as a young freshmen Paige will be an excellent red-shirt candidate in 2012. With her academic and athletic skill sets, she will develop and mature into the type of student-athlete who will be successful at Gonzaga University. Our staff is excited about her future!”

“One of our goals with this recruiting class was to find a mix of talented and/or experienced players,” explained Gantt. “In Kathleen Wright we found both. With her track record of success during her high school and junior college career, we are very excited about her involvement with our program. As a result of her experience and success she will significantly improve our volleyball IQ. She possesses the court presence to raise everyone’s game to a new level and will quickly prove to be a serving, defensive, and team oriented standout.”

Kathleen Wright is a 5-10 libero from Simi Valley, Calif. Wright comes to Gonzaga after playing two years at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif. Wright was a crucial element in Pierce winning back-to-back California State Championships in 2010 and 2011. She was named the Western State Conference Player of the Year and AVCA First Team Junior College All-America in 2011. Wright was also named Western State All-Conference in 2010 and was named to the CCCAA State Championship All-Tournament squad. Wright broke the California State record for aces in a season in 2010 with 86 and broke her own record in 2011 with 96 aces. As an outside hitter on the Royal high school volleyball team, Wright was named the 2009 Marmonte League Player of the Year. She ended her high school career holding the career record for aces (156), digs (599) and third in total kills (804).

“Sometimes we need to measure a player’s impact not only by their physical ability, but by the amount of passion and heart they bring to the court. The intersection of those skills sets is quite evident with Kathleen as she has been a student of the game for many years. She is currently coaching for the Los Angeles Volleyball Academy, and we know she will have a positive impact for us immediately upon her arrival. It will be fun to observe the impact she will have on our program.”