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The most valuable player of a state tournament and a libero who led his high school to a program milestone are heading to North Greenville.
North Greenville coach Fred Battenfield announced recently that high school seniors Brandon Baker and Arlind Robja have each signed a national letter of intent to join the Crusaders beginning in 2018.
Baker, a 6-foot-6 outside attacker from Windsor, Connecticut, was named the most valuable player of the Connecticut State Championship after leading his high school team to the 2016 title. In addition, the all-state high school player helped his club team finish in third place at a national tournament last season.
“Brandon is an emerging player who has tremendous ball handling skills and is just beginning to grow into his body,” Battenfield said in a statement. “He’s a very young senior, and when he gets into the weight room and gets stronger, he will be a shocker on the court in the very near future. He’s only been playing volleyball for three years, but when he puts everything together, he will be an incredible asset to NGU volleyball.”
Rojba, a 5-foot-10 libero from Addison, Illinois, had a team-high 252 digs and earned all-conference honors last season as his school reached the Illinois state tournament for the first time in program history and finished in third place. The libero also had more than 600 digs last season with his club team that advanced to the USA Volleyball Boys’ Junior National Championship.
“I am excited about coming to North Greenville University to play college volleyball,” Arlind said in a statement. “The program fits exactly what I was looking for with its excellent academics and emerging NCAA Division I program. I really liked all the players there.”
North Greenville in the program’s second year finished in sixth place in the Conference Carolinas and advanced to the 2016 conference tournament quarterfinals. The Crusaders return a majority of starters for the upcoming season, including all-conference libero Dustin King.