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The USA Volleyball pipeline is running through Northern California with this latest recruiting class.
Stanford coach John Kosty announced Friday that five high school seniors with experience in the USA Volleyball system have all signed national letters intent to join the Cardinal for the 2020 season.
“We are extremely pleased to sign this excellent class of scholar-athletes,” Kosty said in a statement. “Each one is special in his own right, but as a collective group they elevate our program to the next level. All of them have performed well in the USA Volleyball development system and competed at the highest levels. Each has worked exceptionally hard both academically and athletically to get to Stanford. We welcome them to The Farm and look forward to the years of success that they will have here.”
Adam Chang, a middle attacker from San Diego, was a starter on a team that won the bronze medal at the 2018 USA Volleyball High Performance Championships. The middle attacker also has spent multiple seasons competing in the USA Volleyball pipeline.
Nathaniel Gates, a middle attacker from La Jolla, California, was selected to the U.S. Boys’ Youth National Team this summer. Gates was in the U.S. starting lineup at the 2018 NORCECA U19 Continental Championship as the team won the silver medal and earn a berth to the FIVB U19 World Championship.
Kevin Lamp, an outside attacker from Lake Bluff, Illinois, was one of the youngest players this summer to make the U.S. Men’s Junior National Team, which featured three other current Stanford players on the roster. Lamp primarily coming off the bench at the 2018 NORCECA U21 Continental Championship ended the tournament with five aces and 16 kills to help the United States finish in fourth place.
Nathan Lietzke, from Austin, Texas, was the starting setter for the USA Youth A1 Red team that won the bronze medal at the 2018 USA Volleyball High Performance Championships. He also successfully lobbied to have his Texas high school start a boys’ volleyball program this school year.
Will Rottman, an outside attacker from Santa Barbara, California, was named to the U.S. Boys’ Youth National Training Team earlier this year. With his high school team, Rottman as a sophomore in 2017 was named the conference’s offensive most valuable player.
Stanford finished an injury plagued 2018 season in sixth place in the MPSF and advanced to the conference tournament quarterfinals.