NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana announced Thursday the signing of Vivica Price-Spraggins of Chicago and Whitney Young Magnet High School and Kayla Black of Magnolia, Texas, and Houston's St. Pius X High School to athletic scholarships for volleyball.
The Gold Nuggets have signed six for the 2017 season, which will begin in August. XULA won the last six Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament championships and earned six consecutive automatic bids during that time to the NAIA National Championship.
Price-Spraggins is a 5-foot-11 middle blocker/right-side hitter. She helped Whitney Young's Dolphins in 2016 go 24-12, win a regional playoff and advance to sectionals. Price-Spraggins hit .402 as a senior with 105 kills, 47 blocks, 22 aces and 53 digs.
Price-Spraggins played five years of club ball — first with Club Kace, then with Chicago Elite. She was a starter for a bronze-medal-winning team at 2016 nationals.
Black, a 5-9 outside hitter, helped St. Pius in 2016 reach the Class 6A quarterfinals of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools playoffs. She was second-team all-state as a senior and junior. Black was her team's MVP in 2016.
Black has nine years of club experience, most recently with Willowbrook but also with Waves and Revolution. She was a starter for a Waves team that placed eighth in nationals in 15s.
Black's paternal grandfather is former NFL player and executive James "Shack" Harris, a member of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and the first African-American quarterback to start and win an NFL playoff game (1974: Los Angeles 19, Washington 10).
Price-Spraggins will major in early elementary education, and Black will be a biology/pre-medical major with plans to pursue a career in pediatric cardiology.
| 2017-18 XULA Volleyball Signees | |||||
| Name | Pos. | Ht. | Yr.* | Hometown | High School |
| Ariel Bell # | OH | 5-7 | Fr. | White Castle, La. | White Castle |
| Kayla Black | OH | 5-9 | Fr. | Magnolia, Texas | St. Pius X |
| Jaida Dowd | OH | 5-8 | Fr. | Aurora, Ill. | Metea Valley |
| Eva Le Guillou | S | 5-9 | Fr. | Velizy-Villacoublay, France | Emmanuel Mounier |
| Vivica Price-Spraggins | MB/RS | 5-11 | Fr. | Chicago, Ill. | Whitney Young Magnet |
| Lauryn Taylor | RS/OH | 5-9 | Fr. | Sairburn, Ga. | Booker T. Washington |
* XULA athletic classification in 2017-18 # also will compete in track and field Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director XULAgold.com XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA twitter.com/xulagold www.facebook.com/xulagold | |||||
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