As I mentioned back in March, Tennessee is bringing in a junior college transfer setter — and now we can officially name her! Salt Lake Community College’s Michaela Hanakova will join the team for the 2008 season. The 5′ 8” setter is originally from Brno, Czech Republic. She earned All-Region Second Team and Academic All-Region honors her freshman year, and was named a first team NJCAA All-America selection for the Bruins in 2007.

At SLCC, coach Shay Goulding said of her, “Misha came in last year as a very good setter and is quickly becoming a great one. Misha feels much more comfortable in her role as a leader this year and I know she will really push her passers, and particularly her hitters, to get the most out of them. Beyond running a fast offense, Misha is a smart attacker and leads our team with one of the highest hitting percentages. She is really just beginning her career and has the talent to lead a solid Division I program in the near future.”

Tennessee coach Rob Patrick said, “We are very excited about the addition of Michaela to our program. She and (incoming freshman) Kelsey Mahoney provide us with tremendous experience and depth at the setting position, which is something that we have not had in a long time at Tennessee. I feel that her experience internationally, coupled with Kelsey’s high-level club experience, puts our program in good hands. Michaela is a proven winner and we are extremely excited and fortunate to have a player of her caliber join our team this fall.”

Check out Hanakova’s stats from the 2007 Bruin’s NJCAA Final Four season here:

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 3rd, 2008 at 1:06 pm.