Vanderbilt Volleyball head coach Anders Nelson announced the signing of six student-athletes to the newly minted program this afternoon. While the team will not compete until the Fall 2025 season, the Commodores’ newest signees will begin training in Fall 2024.

“When we started to build this class, we were looking for student-athletes who had the courage to seize a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, could compete at the SEC level and were the type of young women who match the elite reputation of Vanderbilt,” Nelson said. “This group exceeded our expectations.”

The group will be headlined by Hailee Mack, who was the first of the six to commit to the Black and Gold. Mack will head to Nashville from Lousiville, Ky., and figures to serve as the libero on Vanderbilt’s roster. Joining her will be Giovanna Mason, an opposite hitter out of Liberty Hill High School in Texas. Mason will be joined by fellow Texas native and another opposite hitter Reese Animashaun. Taryn Dewese, out of Bowling Green, Ohio, will serve as the setter up front for the Commodores. The middle hitter for Vanderbilt will be Madison Bowser, coming from Bishop O’Connell High School in Vienna, Virginia. Rounding out the roster is Rachel Ogunleye out of Illinois.

This group of student-athletes will have the unique opportunity to make history in Nashville as they build the foundation of the Commodores’ volleyball program from the ground up.

“This group has a desire to be a part of history and the determination to lay the foundation of this program with our coaching staff,” Nelson said. “They will exemplify the characteristics of a Vanderbilt volleyball student-athlete on the court, in the classroom and in the Nashville community. These six student-athletes will leave legacies that tell stories of their courage as the first signees in the re-emergence of our program.”