Holman signs Division I volleyball scholarship

By WILL PARCHMAN

Florida Freedom Newspapers
(850) 315-4484 | willp@nwfdailynews.com

NICEVILLE - After a record-setting volleyball career at Niceville, Ijanae Holman is officially joining the Division I ranks.

The deadly outside hitter recently signed a Letter of Intent with the University of Texas-Pan American to continue her volleyball career in Edinbury, Texas.

And perhaps nobody saw it coming quite as clearly as Niceville volleyball coach Kris Hagberg.

It was Hagberg that first put a volleyball in Holman's hands when she coached at Lewis Middle School and suggested she transfer some of her athleticism over from basketball, Holman's first sport.

"I just did it my seventh grade year because I needed a sport to keep me busy before basketball season," Holman said. "So I went out for the team and loved it."

 After coaching her all the way through middle school and now high school, Hagberg had a front row seat for the player she said played a "key role" in the team's back-to-back District 1-5A title runs.

"She's been a team leader but she really grew as a total package volleyball player from her junior to her senior year," Hagberg said. "She improved on and off the court and in her knowledge of the game. She's just so coachable, so fun and motivated."

The Eagles posted a 27-3 record this year, won their second consecutive District 1-5A title and advanced all the way to the Class 5A regional finals. Not only did Holman lead the 2008 Eagles with 242 kills, but she also holds the school record for kills in a career with 671 as well as kills in a game with 20, which she set this year against Lincoln.

While UT-Pan Am wasn't one of Holman's original college choices, the medical school there and the opportunity to play volleyball were too good to pass up.

"I am really excited," Holman said. "It wasn't one of my choices when I first started going through the process, but I was really blessed to get the scholarship I have."

The school eventually won her over, and now she's poised to take her skills to the next level, both academically and athletically.

"After I went to nationals one of the (UT-Pan Am) coaches said, ‘We'd like to see you,' " Holman said. "I had three other schools on the radar, but I fit in with the girls, the campus was really nice and could I see myself there."

It was only last year that Holman gave up her status as a dual-sport athlete, but ultimately Hagberg said that her volleyball skills were developing too rapidly for her to continue to split time between both.

"That's been a real fun time for me to actually be there from the ground level with her and see her develop and grow as a player," Hagberg said. "She's improved so much every year that it's one of those things that the best is yet to come."