Terre Haute, IN - In addition to the nine players that the women's soccer team has already added to their 2008 roster, five more recruits will be in a Sycamore uniform next season. Head coach Vernon Croft has increased his recruiting class for next season to a total of 14 players, his largest recruiting class since coming to Indiana State in December of 1999. On top of that, Croft has added a key staff member in Rebecca Zakrajsek, a current professor at Indiana State who will serve as the team's full-time Sports Enhancement Coach.
"Having a class this large will make training a very competitive environment which is part of the reason we recruited such a large class," commented head coach Vernon Croft. "But it will also help provide us a significant amount of depth to fight off any potential injury crisis we may encounter. I am thrilled about each and every one of these newcomers as they will each give us something different that will allow us to drastically improve on our last place finish of the 2007 season."
Melissa Spisak is currently finishing up her last year at Crown Point High School here in Indiana. She has been a four-year member of the varsity soccer team where she has been awarded with defensive MVP honors in two of those years. She was also on the Indiana Youth Soccer Association All-District Team in 2007 and named Player of the Year for the Duneland Athletic Conference. She has played club soccer for the Indiana Magic Soccer Club.
"Melissa is a good athlete who is strong in the air and will provide a good battle for our central defender position," Croft said of Spisak.
Tia Perry will come to Indiana State from Lakeland High School also here in Indiana. She has played high school soccer and club soccer for the past four years. She is currently playing for Fort Wayne Sport Club coached by Gary Edelman. Perry has had the unique opportunity to play with the best of the best as she played with and was also coached by former U.S. women's national soccer team member Brandi Chastain at a NSCAA soccer convention last January. In her high school soccer tenure, Perry holds the career record for assists (26) and ranks second for most career goals (47). She is a two-time KPC Media Group All-Area First Team member and was nominated honorable mention twice. She received Best Offensive Player honors for three consecutive years and was also named to Who's Who for both academics and athletics for the past four years.
"Tia is a technical player who should be able to help our consistency in the attack as a forward and will give us some good depth in this position," Croft commented.
Laura Terry will complete her fourth year of high school soccer this spring at Grand Haven in Michigan. The four-year varsity starter received the Scholar Athlete award in '05-'07. In 2003, Terry was selected to the '89 US Youth Soccer Olympic Development Program (ODP) State Pool where she was eventually placed on the 2005 ODP State Team which consisted of only the best players in her age group.
"Laura is someone we saw at Orange Classic and feel that her athleticism and consistent play in the middle of the field will help us as a central defender or midfielder," stated Croft.
Natalie Smailis is a three-year varsity letterwinner from Highland High School once again right here in Indiana. Smailis tallied 16 assists on 36 goals her senior year where she helped her team to a first-time sectional championship. She has played Mystique Premier soccer, participating in several notable tournaments such as the Watermelon Tournament, Louisville Cup, Dynamo Round Robin, and the Indiana State Cup. Her junior and senior seasons, Smailis was a First Team All-Conference selection and was team MVP her senior year.
"Natalie is a very good athlete who will be able to provide some solid depth to our midfield and will vie for playing time right away," Croft said of Smailis.
Laura Hall from Coffs Harbour in New South Wales, Australia rounds out the latest five player women's soccer roster addition. Hall will make the journey to the States from Bishop Druett College. While playing club soccer with Coffs Harbor United in 2006, Hall was selected and continues to train at the New South Wales (NSW) Institute of Sport with select members of the National Team. A year before that, she received the Sport Achievement Award from the Australian National Government in recognition of her outstanding performance in soccer. She was selected to the U-18 North Coast Team and won the Grand Final Premier League as the high goal scorer. She has competed in multiple National Youth Championships garnering several state and national honors.
Vernon Croft had this to say about Hall - "I think anytime you can have someone who consistently trains with National Team players it is going to make your team better not just in games, but with a training mentality. Laura will bring this to our program along with her own individual strengths as a midfielder/forward and I know the staff and players are excited about her joining our program."
Zakrajsek, a professor in the College of Nursing, Health, and Human Services at Indiana State, is a graduate of West Virginia University where she obtained her Master's Degree and Ph.D. in Sport & Exercise Psychology. Zakrajsek also obtained a Master's Degree in Community Counseling while at WVU. She has worked with a number of Division I and II teams mainly focusing on performance enhancement techniques and coping with injury. Zakrajsek joined the Sycamore soccer team at the beginning of the spring semester and will serve as the team's full-time Sports Enhancement Coach.
"Working with athletes and coaches to help stretch their potential has been a passion of mine," Zakrajsek said. "I couldn't be more excited about joining the staff and working with the team. The coaches and athletes are amazing to work with and I am looking forward to continuing as a part of the program in the fall."
"When Shea came to me about Dr. Zakrajsek and brought the idea of her working with our staff and team to better improve our coaching and athlete outcomes, I was delighted at this opportunity," Croft said of Zakrajsek. "Dr. Z was excited about this opportunity as well and has spent most of the spring thus far working with the program and we have already seen some individual and team improvements. We look forward to having her full-time with our staff as we prepare to improve over the next five months for the 2008 season."
