SENATOBIA - At least 10 new faces will join the Northwest volleyball program next season, as coach Allison Burchyett has announced her latest signing class.

Joining the Lady Rangers next season will be outside hitters Kennedy Smith, Kaley Rikard, Cristen Cleveland and Emma Wilson, defensive specialists Macy Woods, Amelia Perkins and Caroline Howard, middle hitters Jacia Hayes, Kailey Gooch and Emma Norman make up the 2022 signing class for Northwest, Burchyett confirmed on Wednesday afternoon. 

"We have 10 very outstanding young women that are coming here and I am excited about each of them," Burchyett said. "I think that they will bring in a lot of experience from high school and club competition and I am looking for great things out of this group."

Smith comes to Northwest from DeSoto Central High School, where she helped the Lady Jaguars to a 29-9 overall record this season. Her 434 kills led the team and her 263 digs ranked third. Smith also totaled 27 aces and six blocks during her senior campaign, while finishing her varsity career with 956 kills, 454 digs, 83 aces and 28 total blocks.

Smith was named as a Commercial Appeal top performer for the week of September 20, thanks to her 11 kills and six digs against Lafayette. The same publication also selected her to the Memphis All-Metro volleyball team, while DeSoto County Farm Bureau tabbed her as the September Athlete of the Month and Scorebook Live Mississippi named her second team all-state.

Rikard is one of three Lewisburg players to sign with Northwest for next season, coming off a season where the Lady Patriots finished 23-12 overall and advanced to the Class 6A playoffs. Rikard led her team with 307 kills this season, while finishing second in digs (234) and third in aces (39). For her career, she totaled 386 kills, 256 digs, 40 aces and 35 total blocks.

Like Smith, Rikard also was named to the Memphis All-Metro volleyball team by the Commercial Appeal and third team all-state by Scorebook Live Mississippi. She also earned Most Valubale Player accolades among DeSoto County teams.

Also joining Rikard from Lewisburg are a pair of defensive specialists, Amelia Perkins and Macy Woods. Perkins totaled 31 aces this season for the Lady Patriots, while Woods finished with 48, good for second on the team. Both players finished in the top five for digs, with Woods earning 198 and Perkins collecting 153.

Additionally, Woods was recognized as a Commercial Appeal top performer for the week of August 23 and concluded her varsity career with 204 digs and 49 aces. Perkins ended her four-year varsity career with 154 digs and 32 aces, per MaxPreps.

In her senior season at Hernando, Cleveland led the Lady Tigers' offense and was selected as the team's Best Offensive Player. Cleveland also earned first-team all-tournament honors in the annual DeSoto County Volleyball Tournament and competed at the Memphis Volleyball Academy club. Stats were not publicly available for Cleveland at press time.

Gooch was also awarded second-team all-state honors by Scorebook Live Mississippi earlier this month, after helping Lafayette to a 24-9 record and a Class 5A runner-up finish in a narrow title loss to Vancleave. Stats were not publicly available for Gooch at press time.

As part of a Pearl program that finished this season 24-15 and advanced to the first round of the Class 6A playoffs, Hayes led the Lady Pirates with 382 kills, 302 digs and 85 total blocks, while finishing second with 105 aces. She was also selected as Pearl's MaxPreps Player of the Year, along with a second-team all-state nod from Scorebook Live Mississippi.

Hayes ends her career with 680 kills, 173 aces and 153 total blocks in three varsity seasons.

Wilson arrives as an outside hitter from Hickory Flat, where she helped the Lady Rebels to a 20-7 overall finish and the Class 1A state championship with a five-set victory against Resurrection Catholic. Wilson's 314 kills and 122 digs led the team in both categories, while her 18 blocks were good for third.

Wilson earned several postseason honors, most notably a third-team all-state nod from Scorebook Live Mississippi.

In her senior season at Pontotoc, Howard helped the Lady Warriors to an 18-6 overall record, a 7-1 mark in Region 2-4A and the Class 4A state title, thanks to a straigh-set victory against Pass Christian. Howard finished her senior season with at least 327 digs, 42 aces and 19 kills.

Rounding out the list of incoming Lady Rangers is Arlington, Tenn. product Emma Norman. Norman helped the Lady Tigers to a 17-16 overall record and a third place finish in Class AAA District 15. Stats for Norman were not publicly available at press time.

Northwest earned 14 victories in its second season of competition, which recently concluded with a play-in loss to Itawamba, the eventual Region 23 champion.