April 18, 2008

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Redhawks women's volleyball Head Coach Renata Nowacki has announced the signing of Amanda Rickoff to a National Letter of Intent (NLI). She is the third signee by the program for the 2008 season.

Rickoff is a native of Bartelso, Illinois that will transfer from national powerhouse Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville, Illinois. The 5-9 outside hitter will have two years of eligibility remaining when she arrives on campus.

Under Jeff Juenger, Rickoff captained the team to a 36-9 record and a third-place finish at the NJCAA National Volleyball Tournament last season.

She garnered NJCAA First Team All-American honors last season to go with First Team All-Region and First Team All-Conference honors. She had a team-high 796 kills and 129 aces for the Blue Storm breaking her own single-season school records in those categories she set her freshman season. She owns the school career records in kills and aces.

Her freshman season she led the team in aces while garnering First Team All-Region and First Team All-Conference.

Rickoff played her prep volleyball at Mater Dei High School in Breese, Illinois, one of the top volleyball programs in Illinois where she competed against current Redhawk Sarah Barth who played for rival Breese Central High School. She was the team captain and Most Valuable Player for her Class AA Tournament qualifying team. She was a First Team All-Region selection where she was Belleville News Democrat runner-up for Player of the Year. She also garnered 2nd Team All-State accolades as well as 2nd team St. Louis Post Dispatch All-Metro Team honors.

She averaged 2.75 kills per game, 1.95 block per game and 2.78 digs per game her senior season.

Rickoff was also a two-sport star for the Blue Storm as she averaged 6.9 ppg and 2.6 rpg as a starter for the women's basketball team this past season. Her best game included an 18 point outburst against Vincennes University where she scored all her points off of three-pointers going 6-7 from beyond the arc.

Rickoff joins early signees Paige Dossey and Emily Maher who signed with the Redhawks in December.