Fluent will play volleyball at Loyola

CEDAR RAPIDS - Anna Fluent is a student/athlete. And it was the academic side of things that she noted first in her college choice.

'They have a great biology program,” Fluent said Sunday night when she confirmed that she has orally committed to play volleyball at Loyola of Chicago. 'I want to be a pre-med major.

'Their campus is awesome and their coaching style is very one-on-one.”

An all-Mississippi Valley Conference junior setter, Fluent has been in the starting lineup at Cedar Rapids Kennedy since late in her freshman season. She averaged 8.08 assists and 1.46 kills per set last season as the Cougars went 28-12, finished second in the MVC tournament and reached the Class 5A regional finals.

Fluent chose Loyola over Northern Illinois, Nebraska-Omaha and Sioux Falls.

Loyola was 9-19 last season. The Ramblers are members of the Missouri Valley Conference.

She is the second member of the Kennedy volleyball Class of 2016 to commit to a Division-I program. Middle hitter Brinley Milbrath chose Northern Illinois.

In other recruiting news Sunday, Linn-Mar's Niki Sharma said that she will attend NCAA Division-III powerhouse Washington University in St. Louis to play basketball.

Sharma averaged 5.9 points and 4.5 rebounds per game this past season for the Lions (16-8). Wash-U is 25-2 this season and has won five NCAA D-III titles, most recently in 2010.

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