The Minnesota volleyball program has signed libero Steffi Sooter to a national letter of intent according to an announcement by Golden Gopher Head Coach Mike Hebert.

Sooter is a 5-9 libero from Aptos High School in Santa Cruz, Calif. where she was named the Most Valuable Player of the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League by league coaches. She was also received Junior of the Year and Sophomore of the Year honors the two previous seasons. Aptos finished undefeated in SCCAL play in 2009 and reached the Central Coast Section Division III semifinals.

As a senior, Sooter had 953 digs and 87 service aces. She also collected 601 digs in her junior season for a total of 1,554 digs in her final two seasons at Aptos High School.

She was named National Player of the Week and State Player of the Week as a senior, and was a 2008 First Team All-SCCAL, 2008 SCCAL Junior of the Year, 2007 Aptos High MVP, 2007 First Team All-SCCAL, and 2007 SCCAL Sophomore of the Year.

Sooter plays club volleyball for the Vision 18 Gold Volleyball Club out of Los Gatos. She will compete with that team at the USA Volleyball Girls Junior Olympic Championships June 29-July 2 in Reno, Nev.

"We pride ourselves on playing good team defense, and Steffi is one of the best incoming players available," said Hebert. "She has the ability to challenge immediately for playing time."

Sooter will join Ashley Wittman, Tori Dixon and UCLA transfer Stephanie Nucci as newcomers on the 2010 Gopher Volleyball team.

Recruit                    Yr.    Pos.    Ht.       Hometown (High School)                
Tori Dixon            Fr.   MB     6-3     Burnsville, Minn. (Burnsville)
Stephanie Nucci     Jr.    S      6-2     Gilbert, Ariz. (Gilbert)
Steffi Sooter         Fr.   LIB     5-9     Santa Cruz, Calif. (Aptos)
Ashley Wittman     Fr.  OH     6-0      Shakopee, Minn. (Shakopee)