BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, NEW YORK--- St. Francis (NY) head volleyball coach Micah Acoba recently announced that Kamalei Clifton of Yuba City, California and Marina Georgieva, of Sofia, Bulgaria have each signed a National Letter of Intent to play for the Terriers prior to the opening day of season.
"I feel extremely fortunate that we have been able to bring in players of Kama's and Marina's caliber so late in the recruiting season," said Acoba. "We have benefited from the incredible generosity of fellow coaches as well as the exceptional efforts of our Athletic Department and student-athletes."
Clifton is a graduate of Sutter Union High School, where as a senior co-captain, she led Sutter to the conference championship and sectional finals. Clifton tallied 915 assists and averaged 8.9 per game during the 2009 season, earning first team honors on the All-Section Team for the California Interscholastic Federation Northern Section as well as a place on the North State All-Star Team. She also played for the North Valley Jrs. Volleyball Club during the offseason. According to Acoba, Clifton's
"skill and dexterity at the setting position will be a key to the team's success."
Georgieva is a sophomore transfer from the University of Tulsa. Prior to her arrival in the United States, she led her club team Septemvri to the Bulgarian National Championship in 2005 and to the finals in 2007 and was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player each time. She also led the team to third place finishes in 2004, 2006 and 2008, and a fourth place finish in 2009. Acoba believes that with her "experience and competitive drive," Georgieva "could be an impact player for the program."
Over four games this past weekend, Georgieva tallied a combined 60 digs and 50 kills with her best performance coming against NJIT as she posted 21 digs and 15 kills in the win against the Highlanders.