Tulane Beach Volleyball Inks Eight Student-Athletes for its 2021 Recruiting Class

New Orleans – Tulane University beach volleyball coach Eyal Zimet announced today the addition of eight members of the team's 2021 recruiting class. This year's class marks the third under Zimet.

Joining the Green Wave for the 2021-2022 season will be graduate transfer Joise Cole, along with freshmen Sam Green, Kara Griffin-Ruwin, Ava Guerra, Sara Hall, Alexa Langlois, Izzy Mitchell, Ainsley Patrick and Alana Witting.

"We are extremely excited to welcome our diverse and ambitious 2021 class to the TU BVB family" Zimet said. "I am impressed by this special group already and their eagerness to connect and get stronger together before college, especially during these last two years. We look forward to seeing Josie, Ava, Sara, Izzy, Ainsley, Sam, Alana, Kara, and Alexa make their positive mark on our program this year. With youthful energy, competitive experience, intelligence, and intense work ethic on and off the court, our 2021 class is bringing a ton of reasons to get excited!"

Cole comes to the Green Wave as a graduate transfer from the University of Oregon. During the 2021 beach season, Cole competed mostly at the number 2 spot for the Ducks. Before attending Oregon Cole played one season of indoor volleyball for UC Irvine in 2017. Cole is in the Masters of Sports Studies program at Tulane with the goal of pursuing a career as a sports agent.

Green comes to Tulane from Long Island, New York, where she was a five-year indoor volleyball letter winner at Mepham High School, leading the team in becoming undefeated conference champions her junior and senior year. Green led Mepham in aces three consecutive years and was named her high school's Elite Senior Athlete in 2020, as well as First Team All-Long Island in 2021. She trained with Stars and Stripes beach volleyball club and Optimum Beach (N.Y.), and has placed first, second, third, and fifth in the Women's Open.

Griffin-Ruwin comes to New Orleans from San Francisco. At the beginning of her beach volleyball career, she trained with the Sandlegs beach volleyball club before moving on to train with the Valley Girls. Griffin-Ruwin also trained on the sand with former USC coach, Anna Collier and AVP/USA professional, Allie Wheeler. Griffin-Ruwin was recognized by AVCA volleyball as an elite rising high school volleyball student-athlete. She has trained and competed in P1440, USAV, CBVA's, AAU and AVP tournaments, has top finishes in CBVA and P1440 tournaments.

Getting stronger off the courts, Griffin-Ruwin did OC Fast-Twitch training, F45 training, and Apiros. Griffin-Ruwin plans on majoring in Design and wants to pursue a career as an Interior Designer in the Real Estate Business.

Guerra comes to Tulane from Santa Monica, California, where she started playing beach volleyball at age ten. Over the last two years, Guerra has held the number one ranking in the California Beach Volleyball Association for points. She has also consecutively placed in the top three in the AAU Junior Olympics since 2016. Guerra has maintained A's and B's throughout her busy high school schedule and plans to study communications and Art Studio at Tulane University.

Hall comes to New Orleans from Braden River High School in Bradenton, Florida, where she played three seasons on the varsity indoor volleyball team as a 6-rotation outside hitter. Hall received the MVP award in her junior and senior years, also serving as team captain. She trained with Optimum Beach, coached by Pri Lima, and has competed in many USAV, AAU and AVP tournaments on the sand. Hall also led her high school beach volleyball team to a third place at states, as the first seed.

Remaining in the top 10 percent of her class all four years and on her school's honor roll, Hall intends to major in business and minor in marketing at Tulane University.

Langlois comes to New Orleans from Manhattan Beach California where she attended Mira Costa High School. Langlois played for the Mira Costa Beach Volleyball team and played for the Elite Beach club volleyball team. While in school, Langlois was on the academic honor roll each year since the sixth grade.

While at Tulane Langlois intends to study communications with the goal of working in public relations.

Mitchell comes to Tulane from Cincinnati, Ohio, where she played for Ohio Valley Beach Volleyball. In 2021 she won the Association of Volleyball Professionals National Championship. The incoming Green Wave freshman also earned the 2021 AVP Young Gun Award. Off the sand court, Mitchell enjoys skiing, wake surfing, and watching tennis.

Patrick comes to Tulane from Oak Ridge High School in Tennessee. Patrick was a two-time captain for the indoor volleyball team and is at the top of the record book for both most career kills (1142) and most career aces (388). In 2020 Patrick was a Prep Xtra TN volleyball player of the year nominee, all-district, district MVP, and team MVP. Patrick also played beach volleyball as a member of the Hyden Beach club.

Patrick intends to study Cell and Molecular Biology at Tulane and plans to have a career as a geneticist.

Witting comes to Tulane from Santa Monica, California. She played varsity beach volleyball for Santa Monica High School during her freshman, junior, and senior years. Alana also played club for Valley Girls Beach Volleyball since 2017. She earned an AA rating from the California Beach Volleyball Association along with many top finishes across multiple AAU and CBVA tournaments.

The official mobile app for Tulane Athletics also is available for download, allowing fans the opportunity to connect with the Green Wave via Android or iOS mobile device.

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Tulane Beach Volleyball Inks Eight Student-Athletes for its 2021 Recruiting Class

Players Mentioned

Kara Griffin-Ruwin

Ava Guerra

Sara Hall

Alexa Langlois

Izzy Mitchell

Ainsley Patrick

Alana Witting

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