Lee University women's soccer coach Chris Hennessey has announced the recent signings of 10 players for his nationally ranked NCAA Division II program, including six from the Chattanooga and Cleveland area.
One of those is Baylor School's Abbie Vibbert, whose signing was reported by the Times Free Press last week. The others are Julia Kaset from East Hamilton, Avery Engels from Signal Mountain, Lauren Stutzman from Cleveland High and Caitlin Dickson and Taylor Ellis from Walker Valley.
"Taylor is a great addition to the squad," Hennessey said in Lee's release. "She is athletic, fast and likes to score goals. Taylor has been very successful in high school and at the club level."
Dickson, he said, "is strong, aggressive and has all the characteristics of a good defender. She has the technique that will allow us to build out of the back and control the game."
Of Kaset, Hennessey said, "She plays the game with such ease and poise. As a midfielder she is gifted technically and leads by example with her incredible work rate."
The 6-foot Engels "possesses a lot of athleticism and physicality," according to Lee's coach, and "is a very technical player that can play in several positions for us. She has the ability to pick out passes of all ranges and gives us much-needed height and strength in the air."
Vibbert is another who "can play in a variety of positions," Hennessey said. "She plays with determination and leads by example and her work rate. Abbie will add to the depth of our strikers and give us a lot of options."
Stutzman "is an agile and brave goalkeeper," he said. "She is very coachable, works hard and has the qualities to become a strong goalkeeper. What stands out the most about Lauren is her leadership skills."
Lee's non-area signees are versatile Lauren Weimer from Tippecanoe High School in Ohio and standout defenders Ellie Weekley of Knoxville Halls, Cree Kilpatrick from Augusta, Ga., and Abigail Bowman from the Tampa Bay area of Florida. Most of the 10 have been all-state; all are honor students.
"I am very excited about this class. This group brings so many qualities to the team both on and off the field," Hennessey said. "They all want to win and are extremely hard-working. Since we graduated a large class that had developed a winning culture it was important that this class had that burning desire to keep the program moving forward."