Gold Nuggets, 3-time defending GCAC champion, sign 5

Jada Broussard

Ralitsa Hadzhistoyanova

Kayla Jones

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana — a three-time defending champion in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular season and tournament — announced Friday its 2014 women's volleyball recruiting class.
     
Second-year coach Hannah Lawing said five have been signed to scholarships:
     
• Jada Broussard, a 5-foot-10 middle blocker and right-side hitter from Breaux Bridge, La., and Breaux Bridge High School.
     
• Ralitsa Hadzhistoyanova, a 5-9 setter from Razlog, Bulgaria, and Kanazirevi secondary school and a transfer from Chicago State University.
     
• Kayla Jones, a 5-3 libero and defensive specialist from Kansas City, Kan., and Piper High School.
     
• Kaelan Temple, a 5-7 outside hitter and defensive specialist from Houston, Texas, and Lamar High School.
     
• Jelena Vujicic, a 5-8 outside hitter and setter from Belgrade, Serbia, and Beogradska Gimnazija school.
     
Broussard, Jones, Temple and Vujicic will be freshmen on the Gold Nuggets' roster. Hadzhistoyanova will be a sophomore.
     
Broussard was a four-year varsity starter and was all-district three times. As a senior she was named academic all-state by the Louisiana Volleyball Coaches Association. Broussard helped Breaux Bridge qualify for the state playoffs in Division II (Class 4A) four times, reach the semifinals in 2012 and the quarterfinals in 2013.
     
Hadzhistoyanova transfers to XU after playing in 14 matches for Chicago State a year ago. Twice she recorded seven assists in a match, and she was cited as a CSU Scholar Athlete and made the dean's list. Hadzhistoyanova was a member of the third-place team at the 2012 Bulgarian high school championship.
     
This will be the second year at XU for Jones, who joined the program during the spring semester and was a member of the Alpha Lambda Delta honor society for freshmen. Jones was a two-year volleyball starter at Piper, and in track and field she ran the leadoff leg on the Lady Pirates' 400-meter relay team which won the Class 4A state championship in 2011.
        
Temple was a starter as a junior and a senior at Lamar and competed two years in track and field in the 200 and 400. She made the honor roll multiple times. Temple is a cousin of former LSU men's basketball standouts Collis Temple Jr., Collis Temple III and Garrett Temple. Another cousin, Meghan Temple, plays women's basketball for XU city rival Loyola.
     
Vujicic competed on a pair of bronze-medal winning teams in the Serbian junior national championship.

Jones is a psychology major at Xavier. Broussard and Vujicic will be pre-law majors, Hadzhistoyanova will major in accounting, and Temple is undeclared.
     
"We are thrilled to have such talented and bright young ladies join our Xavier family," Lawing said. "I'm really looking forward to their arrivals. I believe the elements and experience they will bring from their respective origins will add more variety and depth to our team."
     
Xavier was 26-8 in 2013 and qualfied for the NAIA National Championship for the third consecutive year. The Gold Nuggets will open the 2014 season at 2 p.m. on Aug. 23 against Faulkner at XU's Convocation Center.

Kaelan Temple Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director XULAATHLETICS XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA https://twitter.com/xulagold https://www.facebook.com/xulagold

Jelena Vujicic