Centennial's Briana Zolak, The Sun's All-Metro volleyball Player of the Year, signed a national letter of intent yesterday to attend Towson University.
The signing period for NCAA national letters of intent began yesterday and concludes April 1.
Zolak, a two-time All-Metro performer who helped the Eagles to undefeated seasons the past two seasons, received athletic and academic money that amounted to a full scholarship.
"I liked the team a lot, the coaches and the campus," said Zolak, an outside hitter who led the No. 1 Eagles in kills (216, three per game) and kill efficiency (.369). "I didn't want to go further than 1 1/2 to two hours away. It's about 45 minutes away [from her Ellicott City home]. It's away from home, but not too far."
Zolak, the Howard County Player of the Year, wanted to stay close so that her parents could attend the matches.
Zolak is a cousin of New England Patriots quarterback and former Maryland standout Scott Zolak.
In addition to Zolak, Towson also signed a 5-foot-11 outside hitter, Kristen Ostro of Sonoma, Calif., and a 5-foot-8 setter, Andrea LaBlanc of Brookfield, Wis.
The Towson's men's soccer team signed Bowie High goalkeeper Andrew Hicks. Hicks follows in the footsteps of his brother, Todd, who was a midfielder for the Tigers.
Maryland announced two more men's soccer players have committed to the team -- Erik Ozimek, a midfielder from Columbia, S.C., who graduated early from high school and is currently enrolled at Maryland and Tyler Pharr, a defender from Dallas, Texas.
Maryland's volleyball team signed Angie Banys, a 6-foot outside hitter from Evergreen Park, Ill., who earned all-state honors.
Severn's Dennard Melton, who is likely to become Anne Arundel County's career scoring leader in basketball and football, has orally agreed to sign with the Navy.
He set county career records for touchdowns (65) and total points (412) and is currently No. 2 in career scoring for basketball with 1,747 points (record is 1,823).
Other signings announced yesterday among area high school players included: C. Milton Wright's Brian Rodriguez, a 6-foot-5, 255-pound two-way lineman, who committed to Virginia Military Institute; and Mount St. Joseph football players Shaz Brown (Villanova), Oby Arah (Howard) and Kyle Lott, who (Norfolk State) all accepted full football scholarships.
Brown is a second-team All-Baltimore City/County wide receiver and Arah (6-5, 285) and Lott (6-5, 295), are both linemen.
Pub Date: 2/05/98
