ALTON – Annie Evans has been a two-sport standout for Alton High, having played volleyball and soccer for the Redbirds since entering the school in the fall of 2013.
Evans announced her future plans in a signing ceremony at Alton High Wednesday afternoon, signing a letter of intent to attend Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville next fall and play volleyball for the Blue Storm.
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“It feels good to know that I'll continue my volleyball career into college,” Evans said. “I grew up playing soccer my whole life; finally, in middle school, I tried something different and I love it.”
Evans' friends in middle school all played volleyball and they all wound up continuing on at the high school level with the sport. “She's been playing in our program since sixth grade,” said Redbird coach Stacey Ferguson. “She's been on the varsity team for the last few years and has been a player I can use in multiple positions.
“It brings a lot to the team and she's been a great pleasure to coach.”
Last season, Evans had a serving percentage of 90.58 with 11 aces and 90 points from serve; she also had 123 kills and two assists with an 1.58 kill per-game average and 17 blocks, three of them solo.
That Evans will continue playing past the high school level pleases Ferguson. “I always like to see girls play beyond high school, no matter what the level is,” Ferguson said. “I think this is a great opportunity for her; it's local and it'll be a great competition for her, so I'm excited for her and I'm excited to go watch her continue.”
“A lot,” said SWIC volleyball coach Warren Thomas when asked what it meant to get Evans into the fold for the 2017 season. “Her performance that I saw the past two years have been astounding; each year, I try to better my program regardless of where we ended up. Last year, we had our best season ever in the past 13 years at 22-12.
“I thought that, in order to beat the best, you have to recruit the best. As I go through the state of Illinois watching volleyball from club to high school to wherever, I try to get the pinnacle players from each team. From what I saw of Annie, I believe that she'll be a great asset to perform at that transition period.”
Evans hopes to major in a criminal justice-related field. “I'm thinking forensic chemistry, a CSI-type of thing,” Evans said. “I love it.”
