Girls volleyball: Tars’ Woller commits to UCI

Barry Faulkner

NEWPORT BEACH - Newport Harbor High senior Christine Woller, a

part-time girls volleyball starter for the Sailors last fall who

blossomed during the offseason, verbally committed Monday to accept a

scholarship from UC Irvine.

Woller, a 6-foot-1 outside hitter, is entering her second varsity

campaign at Harbor, after helping the Newport Beach-based Orange County

Volleyball Club’s top 18-and-under team finish ninth at the national

championships this summer.

“I think I’ve improved tremendously (during the club season),” said

Woller, who chose UCI over Cal State Fullerton, Nevada, Georgia Tech and

St. John’s.

“I wanted to stay local and everything at UCI just fit. I committed

early so I could focus on this year with Newport Harbor.”

When she began playing in the seventh grade for OCVBC, Woller said her

long-term focus would have never included a college scholarship.

“I had no clue this would ever happen,” she said. “When I made varsity

last year, that kind of surprised me.”

Woller will renew her association with Coach Charlie Brande at UCI.

Brande coached her this summer with the OCVBC Nike team.