Senior bumps old sport for volleyball

A basketball player became a volleyball player with one stroke of the pen on Tuesday afternoon.

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Evans senior Lauren Middleton, who dominated the post position for two years on the Lady Knights basketball court, signed a National Letter of Intent to play volleyball at Faulkner University in Montgomery, Ala.

"Everybody thought I'd play basketball," Middleton said at the signing ceremony. "Basketball was my sport for a while, but the more I played volleyball, the more I loved it."

Middleton said she began playing volleyball only four years ago, but she's played year-round for three years with the CSRA Heat club team.

She became only the second volleyball player from Evans High School to sign a college commitment.

Senior Aidan Yeager, who signed with Jacksonville University in the fall, is the other volleyball signee.

"We've never had anyone sign before this year," Evans volleyball coach C.C. Armstrong said. "Not in the 10 years of the program. That says something. These are the most powerful group of athletes in this high school. That's nothing against the other athletes, but my girls do it all."

That includes Middleton, who excels both in the classroom and on the basketball and volleyball courts.

She was recently named Evans High School's 2006-07 Valedictorian.