VUVB adds offensive power with signing of Tiara Sands
VINCENNES, Ind. – The three time defending Region 24 Champion Vincennes University Volleyball program picked up another big addition last week with the signing of outside hitter Tiara Sands.
Sands comes to Vincennes University from Zephyrhills High School in Zephyrhills, Fla., northeast of Tampa.
Sands is coming off a stellar high school career where she earned All-Sunshine Athletic Conference honors three times and earned All-Region honors as a senior.
Tiara is the daughter of Loretta Forrest and plans to study Culinary Arts at Vincennes University.
“I am extremely excited to see Tiara continue her volleyball career at the next level,” Tiara’s Former Assistant High School Coach Antrine Wicks said. “I’m looking forward to seeing her skills grow and compete against the best.”
Tiara is stepping into a tough competition for playing time as the Trailblazers are looking to replace nearly 50-percent of their kills output from last year.
“Tiara is a very explosive, dynamic type player,” VUVB Head Coach Gary Sien said. “She’s a former middle, so she comes in with quite a bit of blocking skills. We need hitters out there, especially in the left front that are familiar with that position and ready to swing at anything. I feel like Tiara has a really good opportunity to come in here and do well. She has a chance to show what she can do.”
“As soon as we contacted her, she was very interested and enthusiastic about VU,” Sien added. “Tiara was also looking for a school that would offer Culinary Arts, which is something that not a lot of other schools offer. For any collegiate program to advance and grow, the recruiting options have to expand as well. If it’s not, you are going to be stuck at a certain level.”
“We want to compete at the National level,” Sien said. “There are some pretty good programs down in Florida, not just at the NJCAA level but the Division II schools as well and of course the Division I teams. For us to be able to expand out and recruit in Florida is going to be huge. To have someone who is a high caliber player decide to leave the state of Florida and choose to come to school at Vincennes, Indiana is great to see.”
“Bringing in Tiara, along with the other hitters that we have already brought in this year, they will have an opportunity to compete for our two open spots in the front row and there is going to be a great competition for those two spots,” Sien added. “We’ve got three or four players that we are considering for those two spots and those positions could remain in flux, which would be good because it gives us different options and lots of competition for playing time.”
“As for how this year’s team is beginning to take shape, it always goes back to passing,” Sien said. “We typically have a nice offense here but the difference is can you pass. The 2023 team had that, which allowed us for most of the year to hit over .260 as a team. We will have new passers this year. We had our three main passers from last year graduate, so this year we are going to have three new passers. So that is going to be a determining factor for our success this year.”
The Vincennes University Athletic Department is excited to welcome Tiara Sands to the 2024 Trailblazer recruiting class.
