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March 6, 2008
By
Cynthia Henning, Trojan Volleyball Head Coach
(Madison, SD) -
The 2008 Trojan Volleyball recruiting class
has taken shape and Cynthia Henning, DSU Volleyball Coach, has
announced the first round of signings for 2008. Dakota
State University and Trojan Volleyball are pleased to welcome
Melissa Boddy, Lauren Kregel, April Peterson, and Darci Peterson
to DSU and the Trojan Volleyball family.
 Boddy is a 5'8'' setter from New Ulm, MN and played her
scholastic career at
New Ulm Cathedral High School. Boddy has been on the
varsity team at Cathedral
since her sophomore year and was a two yearstarter
for the Greyhounds. In her senior
year, Boddy registered 956 assists and was named to the All
Journal Team. Along
with volleyball, Boddy also competed in softball for the
Greyhounds and batted .353.
She also helped the softball team to a first place finish in
both the Tomahawk
Conference and Class 'A' Softball Tournament. Boddy is
also involved with the Sonics
Dance Team, which qualified for the state tournament in High
Kick and Jazz Dance.
While Boddy has been successful on the volleyball court, she has
also been on the
Cathedral honor roll for her entire high school career, and she
is a member of National
Honor Society. Boddy is very involved in all aspects of
the sport coaching at Cathedral summer camps for fifth and sixth
graders along with coaching youth volleyball programs for the
city of New Ulm. Boddy has a family history of
volleyball--it's a sport she was introduced to by her parents
and she has cousins that have played at the collegiate level.
"Melissa is a player that has just been around volleyball all
her life, and she has a very strong understanding of the time,
commitment, and passion it takes to be successful at the
collegiate level," said Coach Henning. "Melissa is a great
addition to our team, program and university because she is a
complete student-athlete and is a great fit for us." Boddy
is the daughter of Sue and Arlyn Boddy and will major in
exercise science at Dakota State.
 Kregel
is a 5'10" middle hitter from White, SD.
She played for Deubrook High School.
Kregel was an
All-Conference honorable mention her junior
year and was an All-Conference selection her senior year.
She was also selected to the All-Register Team in 2007.
During her prep career, Kregel aslo played basketball for the
Dolphins and was awarded the Sixth Woman Award in 2006.
Kregel has been very active at the high school level and has
been a member of the Deubrook Honor Roll, Girl's State
Representative, and was selected as the Lady Dolphin Pride Award
recipient. "One of the most impressive things about
Lauren," said Coach Henning, "is her understanding of turning
angles and how important that is at the collegiate level for a
middle to be truly effective. Lauren brings a lot of power
when she hits and has had a lot of experience with different
types of approaches out of the middle, which will all be very
beneficial for her and for our volleyball program," concluded
Coach Henning. Lauren is the daughter of John and Janiece
Kregel and plans on majoring in biology at Dakota State.
 April
Peterson is a 2005 graduate of Freeman High School in Freeman,
SD. During her prep career, she was a four-sport athlete
for the Flyers, competing in volleyball, basketball, track, and
cross country. For the Trojans, Peterson will be utilized
at the outside hitter position. During the spring,
Peterson will run track focusing on the 400 meter and, possibly,
some relays. During her prep career, Peterson was a member
of the National Honor Society. Along with these
activities, she was a team captain and also was the Gatorade
Will to Win Athlete. "April joined us a semester, which
will giver her an opportunity to learn our system before our
fall season rolls around," said Coach Henning. "April has
a great vertical and needs some time to get readjusted to the
game, but she has shown a lot in our off season workouts with
weights and conditioning. She is a very nice addition to
our program, and I'm looking forward to watching her develop
further." Peterson is an elementary education major and is
the daughter of Mike and Joette Peterson.
 Darci
Peterson rounds out the first round of signings for the Trojans,
and she is a 2007 graduate of Freeman High School.
Peterson played libero for the Flyers and was also involved with
their basketball, track, and cross country teams. During
her senior campaign, she was a team captain and was also
selected 1st team All-Conference. She was selected second
team All-League and was an All-State selection in Oregon during
her junior year. "Darci will bring a lot of quickness to
the libero position for us," said Coach Henning. "she is
very explosive and has absolutely no fear. She has great
pursuit after the ball and covers the court very, very well."
She also was an All-Conference selection in basketball her
senior year. Peterson is an exercise science major and is
the daughter of Mike and Joette Peterson.
"We are very excited to have all of these student athletes in
our program," said Coach Henning, "and I'm really looking
forward to working with each of them next year and throughout
their careers here at Dakota State."
Nick Huntimer,
Dakota State Sports Information Director
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