April 27, 2001

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Samford University volleyball coach Vickie Nichols announced the signing of Andrea Shanks to a National Letter-of-Intent on Friday.

Shanks is a 6-0 middle blocker from Cookeville, Tenn., where she led Cookeville High School to two Tennessee state tournament appearances in 1998 and 2000. She was an All-district and All-region selection the past two seasons and was voted the MVP by her teammates.

Shanks excels in the classroom as well as on the court where she will graduate with a 3.9 GPA and earned the Tennessee Distinguished Academic Award for three years. She also lettered in basketball where she was a member of the 2000 Tennessee State championship AAU team.

"Andrea is a natural athlete with an aggressive nature and a quick arm swing," says Nichols. "We can put quickness and versatility to good use in the front row."

Shanks joins Hilary Gary, who signed during the early signing period, as Samford's incoming freshman class.