WVU Women Add Nine Including @houndsacademy/Yough's DeZorzi

West Virginia University women’s soccer coach Nikki Izzo-Brown announced the addition of nine student-athletes for the 2017 season — including one local player, Marissa DeZorzi from Yough, who also played for the Riverhounds Development Academy (RDA).

Set to join the 2016 National Runner-Up Mountaineers are:  Dezorzi (Arona, Pennsylvania), Stefany Ferrer-Van Ginkel (Argencola, Barcelona), Danielle Gordon (Jacksonville, Florida), Lois Joel (North Finchley, London), Lexi Mitchell (Auburn, New York), Lauren Segalla (Salisbury, Connecticut), Kayla Thompson (Austin, Texas), Ashley Triplett (Memphis, Tennessee) and Chloe Zamiela (Stuart, Florida).

Also ready to contribute in 2017 are previously announced early enrollees Issy Coombes and Malia Kaleiohi.

“I’m excited to bring such an experienced class into Morgantown,” Izzo-Brown said. “We have players coming in from not only all over the country, but all over the globe. They’ll bring a wealth of knowledge to WVU so we can continue the tradition of success built by previous Mountaineers. This class is coming here to win championships and to continue to achieve at the highest level.

“We enter the 2017 season with a large target on our back given our National Runner-Up finish in 2016. We’ll be depending on this group to push us to new success.”

At the Riverhounds Academy National Letter of Intent Day celebration at Highmark Stadium, DeZorzi couldn’t hold back her excitement about the opportunity to play at WVU.

“I was beyond excited,” said Dezorzi about the moment she received her offer.
“I’m looking forward to getting better as a player and experiencing new styles of play.”

Dezorzi said the RDA coaches helped her prepare for this new style of soccer and further her playing career, providing her with the mental toughness that is needed to play at the collegiate level.

Here’s some more background on DeZorzi according to WVU’s announcement listing bio’s on all their new players:

Marissa DeZorzi, 5-3, Midfield, Arona, Pennsylvania (Yough High School) 

Multiple-year member of the Pittsburgh Riverhounds Academy … reached semifinals of the 2015 U.S. Club Soccer National XIV Tournament with the U-16 Riverhounds Team … member of the id2 Olympic Development Program … invited to train at the U.S. National Training Center … also played basketball and ran track for Yough Senior High … daughter of Dannielle DeZorzi … birthday is September 1.