MORAGA, Calif. – Looking to bolster their roster for the 2019 season, head coach Rob Browning had announced the signing of two incoming freshman to the Saint Mary's volleyball team: Elena Baka and Jadyn van Santen.
 
Hailing from Thessaloniki, Greece, Baka is currently attending Hellenic College of Thessaloniki where she will graduate in 2019. Elena won the national championship in 2016 with the u15 squad, 2017 with u17 and u19, and again in 2018 with the same groups. She was also named MVP of the 2016 national championship team and received two national MVPs and the Best Attacker award. Baka was recruited by a myriad of schools including Stanford, USC, Stetson, Florida State, and Pepperdine just to name a few. After college, she hopes to play indoor and beach volleyball professionally, work in PR in the sport industry and move to California full-time.
 
"Elena is also an all-around player who has the potential to overpower opponents at the net," said Browning. "Her international experience will help her to become an outstanding player in the WCC."
 
Standing six feet tall, Jadyn van Santen accumulated over 1,200 kills, 230 aces, 425 digs, and 100 blocks at Crofton House School in her hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia. She also collected numerous accolades during her prep career including: being named the MVP of the Capilano University Varsity Girls Championship, becoming the Most Outstanding Player at the ISAA Championship, and claiming the MVP, Best Server, and Best Hitter titles for three-consecutive seasons (2015-17) of the Western Canadian Independent School Varsity Girls Championship Team. Furthermore, van Santen was an All-Star for U14, U16, and U17 Club BC, the 2017 Crofton House Inspirational Athlete of the Year and the 2014 Junior Athlete of the Year. Jadyn was also recruited by Western University of Ontario, but chose to come to Saint Mary's because of the strong relationships she created with the team and coaches as well as the beauty of the campus and surrounding Bay Area.
 
 "Jadyn is a polished outside hitter and the perfect candidate to pick up where Sarah Chase, our first awesome Canadian, has left off," said Browning. "She is especially skilled with great ball control off of her passing platform and as an attacker."
 
"Both Jadyn and Elena make fantastic additions to our Gael Volleyball family. They are dynamic outside hitters with the physical attributes, intellect, and toughness that we have come to expect of our student-athletes. Both of them are accomplished indoor and beach players, so they are fired up to keep our two programs at a high level."