GAFFNEY, S.C.-- Limestone College Head Women’s Soccer Coach Tina Weaver has announced the commitment of four recruits for the 2009 season. The Lady Saints received commitments from Holli Schwartz (Lenoir, N.C.), Ashley Spanitz (East Aurora, N.Y.), Casey King (Linthicum, Md.), and Lauren Barker (Charleston, S.C).
“This class is going to fit right in with our team’s philosophy,” commented Weaver. “The recruitment process was very detailed this year because we wanted to bring in another class of disciplined and highly motivated players. We did just that.”
“One of the areas that we really needed to improve on was the midfield,” continued Weaver. “We had an imbalance of defenders to forwards and needed to gain more depth along the midfield line. I think that this year we will be stronger in the midfield with added depth and stronger into our attack, and will hopefully remain strong in the back.”
Schwartz, a midfielder, comes to Limestone from Hibriten High School. Throughout Schwartz’s four-year career on the varsity team, she garnered All-County, All-Conference and All-Region honors as a sophomore, junior and senior. Schwartz also received the Caldwell County Women’s Soccer Player of the Year award, was named MVP, and captained her team. During her club career she competed with the CVYSA Blast. Scwartz is a Caldwell Academic and North Carolina Academic Scholar.
“Holli is a disciplined individual both on and off the field,” stated Weaver. “Her work ethic is shown is her game and in the classroom. She will add to the attack from the midfield as she has shown to be a goal scorer throughout her career. She has a tremendous amount of potential that will lead her to succeed at this level.”
Spanitz hails from Iroquois Central High School. She will see playing time as an outside midfielder or forward. During her time at Iroquois Central she received the Coaches Award and the Air Force Scholar Athlete Award. She was a four-year starter for the varsity program. She also received her high school’s sportsmanship award. Spanitz started at midfield for the East Aurora Arsenal Club during her career and helped the team finish second in its division for the 2008 season. Spanitz also played and started with the Tri-town Club and captained her team. Spanitz was a four-time Scholar Athlete and received the U.S. Academic Achievement Award.
“Ashley is another great addition to the team,” Weaver pointed out. “She has a driven attitude to succeed. She is a committed to furthering her skills and the growing success to the women’s soccer program here at Limestone.”
King joins the Lady Saints from The Community College of Baltimore County-Catonsville. King, a midfielder, played for North County High School. During her high school career, she was a four-year varsity player and earned All-County Honorable Mention honors. While at CCBC, King she helped the 2007 CCBC team win the NJCAA Championship. She will continue to pursue her degree in social work at Limestone.
“Casey’s experiences will be a driving force to our team’s success,” said Weaver. “She is a true competitor as she has experienced winning a national championship with CCBC. She will immediately compete for playing time in the midfield.”
Barker, who will play as an outside midfielder or a forward, joins the Lady Saints after competing with the Limestone cross team since 2006 . Barker ran a time of 21:38 in the Limestone Invitational for the 2008 season. She posted a season-best time of 21:35 at the 2008 Conference Carolinas Championship and had a season-high finish of 16th at the Warrior Invitational. Barker attended Summerville High School where she was a four-year varsity starter. While at Summerville, she helped the squad win the 2003 South Carolina AAAA girls state championship. She was named Gatorade Rookie of the year in 2002 and was team captain as a junior and senior. During her high school career at Summerville she played at midfield. Barker is a biology and chemistry major.
“Lauren is a wonderful addition to our team,” Weaver stated. “She trained with us this past spring and is an extremely hard working player. She is willing to put in the extra to get the result. She will add depth in all positions, but will be important with the outside midfield position.”