Liberty Volleyball Adds 2 Student-Athletes During Spring Signing Period
4/28/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Liberty volleyball 13th-year head coach Shane Pinder and his staff have announced the addition of two student-athletes to the team's 2017 roster. Junior-college transfer Victoria Baptista Santos and graduating high school senior Darian Finnerty will join the Lady Flames starting in the fall of 2017.
Baptista Santos and Finnerty will join an incoming class, announced the fall, of Alexis Berrios, Jenna Culhan, Kailey Macy, Amaya Wiliams and Kaitlyn Young.
Victoria Baptista Santos (OH, 5-10, Sao Paulo, Brazil/Panola College)
Victoria Baptista Santos comes to Liberty after playing two years at Panola College in Carthage, Texas. She helped the Fillies earn the national No. 1 seed entering the 2016 NJCAA Division I Volleyball National Championship, where Panola placed seventh overall. Baptista Santos was named to the Region XIV North All-Conference second team in 2016, after receiving honorable mention all-conference recognition as a freshman. A two-time Region XIV Academic All-Conference team member, she was also voted to the Region XIV All-Tournament team as a sophomore.
Baptista Santos intends to major in economics while at Liberty.
"Victoria is an outside hitter who will transfer in with two years of experience at the junior college level," Pinder said. "We are excited about her ability to impact our roster immediately. She is a very competitive athlete who is very skilled in the front row and back row. The one area that I feel Victoria will stand out is her natural instincts for the game and for big moments."
Darian Finnerty (5-11, OH, Lynchburg, Va./Timberlake Christian)
Darian Finnerty played high school volleyball at nearby Timberlake Christian in Lynchburg. She recorded 2,042 kills at the varsity level, in addition to 1,294 digs and 292 blocks. A four-time VACA All-District, All-Region and All-State first-team selection, Finnerty was named the 2016 VACA Region and State Player of the Year. As a senior, she led the Commonwealth of Virginia in hitting percentage and was voted the MVP of both the VACA Region and State tournaments. Finnerty was a three-time member of the VISAA Division III All-State first team. She was a three-year team captain and was voted her team's MVP each of her four seasons. Finnerty was named to the Lynchburg News & Advance Regional All-Star first team twice, including Player of the Year honors as a senior.
Also an accomplished basketball player, Finnerty was named to the VISAA Division III All-State team and scored over 2,000 career points.
"Darian is also an outside hitter who will be a great addition to our gym," Pinder said. "She is a six rotation player with good speed and athleticism. I believe in time Darian has the potential to be a very good player."
