California native Rachel Ritchie has signed with the Georgia volleyball team, as the outside hitter and will join the Bulldogs for the 2017 season.

 
 
“Rachel is a tremendous addition to our program,” said head coach Tom Black. “She is an explosive hitter with a strong all-around game. More than that – it’s how she goes about her business that makes her special. Rachel is the first to arrive and the last to leave, and has a daily work ethic few players her age can match. Her decision to come with us to Georgia meant the world to our entire staff and was a great day for our program. We absolutely cannot wait to have her every day and continue to see how good we can be.”
 
 
Ranked as one of the top four outside hitters on PrepVolleyball.com, Ritchie, a High Performance Southern California Regional team silver medalist, is listed on Prep Volleyball’s Top 100 Senior Aces list. Considered a six-rotation outside hitter, she garnered All-CIF Southern Section and Mater Dei Offensive Player of the Year after guiding her squad to the CIF Division 1AA Championship as a junior and finishing the year with 322 kills.
 
 
Ritchie began her high school career at San Juan Hills where she was listed on the AVCA Phenom List in each of her two seasons before attending Mater Dei. Now back at San Juan Hills as a senior, she is currently playing for the A4 Volleyball club. A USAV Junior National Open All-Tournament 17s selection, she helped her team to a fifth-place finish in the U.S. Junior National Championships Open Division and a Gold at the Southern California Junior National Qualifier.
 
 
Most recently, her team earned gold-medal finishes at the Golden State Qualifier and the Southern California National Qualifier as well as silver at the NIT Triple Crown.
 
 
Ritchie is currently one of three newcomers for the 2017 team, joining early enrollee and Region Player of the Year T’ara Ceasar as well as All-American libero Kendall Glover.