DAYTON - University of Dayton volleyball head coach Tim Horsmon has announced the signing of four National Letters of Intent for the upcoming 2020-21 academic year. Lexie Almodovar (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville), Lindsey Winner (Versailles, Ohio/Versailles), Anna Wuensch (Indianapolis, Ind./Bishop Chatard) and Alayna Yates (Cedar Falls, Iowa/Cedar Falls) will join the Flyer family prior to the 2020 season.

"I believe this class will be a great addition to a very strong returning unit," Horsmon commented about the incoming class. "These are high-level athletes coming from very good club programs and will impact us immediately. They will be competing for time and positions as soon as they arrive this summer. I believe we addressed our positional needs, but are even more so bringing in athletes that want to win at a high level."

Lexie Almodovar, a 5-8 libero/outside hitter from Noblesville, Indiana, played her prep career at Noblesville High School under the direction of head coach (and mom) Jill Almodovar. A Top 250 PrepVB selection, Lexie was one of the last 10 outside the top 100 Senior Aces. She was the first person in school history to surpass the 1,000-kills mark, set the new single-season Noblesville record for kills with 554 and finished her high school career with 1,800+ kills. Almodovar helped lead the Millers to the 2017 sectional title and was named the 2017 Hamilton County Player of the Year. She is a two-time All-District, All-Conference and All-Conference First Team Honoree and was named a 2018 AAU All-American. Almodovar plays club ball with Munciana.

"The first thing that people will see in Lexie is that she is a flat-out competitor! She comes from one of the best clubs in the country in Munciana/Mike Lingenfelter and has trained at a very high level. Lexie is a winner and will bring an immediate toughness to our program. She is incredibly athletic and will give us a ball control player that will be a ball hawk. Lexie also has a very heavy arm and has the ability to score points in a variety of ways."

A 6-2 middle blocker from Versailles, Ohio, Lindsey Winner earned four varsity letters at Versailles High School under the tutelage of head coach Kenzie Bruggeman. Also a Top 250 PrepVB selection, Winner helped lead the Tigers to back-to-back Division III State Titles in 2017 and 2018 and eclipsed the 1,000-career mark in her final high school match. She was named to the Midwestern Athletic Conference and All-District First Teams following her junior season and earned MAC Honorable Mention accolades in 2017. The two-time team captain received the MAC Academic Award in 2017 and 2018 and is also a member of the Versailles girls basketball team, state runners-up in 2017 and 2018. Winner also plays with the Munciana Volleyball Club.

"Lindsey is one of the better athletes we've brought to Dayton in the past few years. She is incredibly strong and gets off the deck smoothly. Right now, Lindsey is a shutdown blocker and continues to get better offensively. I think will be a very strong slide attacker. Lindsay is tough, she competes on every point, and she brings a blue-collar attitude to our program. Lindsey is also coming from the same Munciana program as Lexie and will compete for a national championship this year at the club level."

Anna Wuensch is a 5-6 defensive specialist/libero from Indianapolis, Indiana. She was a four-year varsity team member at Bishop Chatard, coached by Whitney Birch for three seasons and Heather Lyon in 2019. Following her junior season, Wuensch was named First Team All-City, All-District, All-Conference and All-State after helping her team to the Sectional Championship title. She tallied over 1,600 digs during her prep career and was a two-time Bishop Chatard Defensive Player of the Year. Wuensch, a member of the National Honor Society, plays club ball with and is five-time team captain for Indiana Volleyball.

"Anna is another really strong ball control player that will compete for time immediately. She has great touch and is quick and athletic in the back row. I love her demeanor on the court, and she never seems to be fazed by what is going on around her. She is tough and another great competitor. I found out about Anna from one of our former Flyers, Kortney Norris, who said she would be a perfect fit in our program."

A 6-6 middle blocker, Alayna Yates hails from Cedar Falls, Iowa, and played her prep career at Cedar Falls High School under head coach Matt Johnson. Yates earned 2019 Under Armour All-America Honorable Mention accolades and was voted the No. 51 Senior Ace by PrepVB this fall. She helped lead her team to the Class 5A State Championship Title in both 2017 and 2019. Following the 2018 season, Yates earned All-Conference, All-Metro, All-District and All-State honors while averaging 2.70 kills/set and 1.15 blocks/set for the Tigers. She plays club ball for Six Pack Volleyball Club which was ranked among the top 20 programs in the nation this past year after winning a USA National Championship in 2018.

"Alayna understands how to play the middle position as much as any incoming freshman I've recruited. At 6-6 she will be a terminal blocker that teams will have to game plan against. She attacks high and knows where to score points. Alayna is a great teammate and very humble. She is coachable, and I believe will be a force as soon as she gets on campus."