November 22, 2005
Eagles announce early signings
EVANSVILLE, Ind.—The University of Southern Indiana volleyball team announced that 5'10" outside hitter Courtney Bealor (LaPorte, Indiana) and 6'1" right side/middle hitter Ashley Henricks (Greenwood, Indiana) have signed national letters of intent to play for Head Coach Leah Mercer's Screaming Eagles in 2006. They are the first two to sign with Mercer during the early signing period.
"I am very excited to have Courtney and Ashley join our program," Mercer said. "I spent a lot of last spring watching Courtney and spent some time with Ashley this past summer at camp. They both come from winning programs and will bring a great deal of athleticism as well as good attitudes to our team."
Bealor is a senior at LaPorte High School where she earned four varsity letters in volleyball. She earned honorable mention All-State honors as well as All-Conference and All-Area honors as a junior and has been named All-Conference and All-Area this fall. Bealor also was selected to the North All-Star team.
LHS's Most Valuable Player this fall, Bealer helped lead LHS to the LaPorte Invitational championships in 2004 and 2005 as well as the 2002 and 2005 sectional championships. Bealer's club team, Dunes 17 Open, finished third in the nation in the National Division at the 2005 Junior Olympic Championships in Salt Lake City, Utah, last summer.
A member of the National Honor Society, Bealor has served as LHS's yearbook editor and also is a member of the German Club as well as the Peer Mentors.
Henricks is a senior at Center Grove High School where she has earned five varsity letters in volleyball and track. She helped CGHS to county and sectional championships as a sophomore, junior, and senior and also helped CGHS's track team to a county and sectional championship last spring.
In club volleyball, Henricks helped her Circle City team to the American Division title at the 2005 Junior Olympic Championships.
Henricks also brings an impressive academic resume to the Eagles, having earned the Academic All-Conference Award. She is currently enrolled in the Academic Honors Program at CGHS and is a member of the National Honor Society as well as the Spanish Club and Spanish National Honor Society.
Dan McDonnell,
USI Sports Information
