By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech volleyball and beach volleyball teams and head coaches Jeannette Phillips and Zach Weinberg announced the newest addition to the Golden Eagle family Monday afternoon with the signing of M.K. Roberts.
A transfer from UNC Asheville, Roberts will be immediately eligible and compete for the Tech beach volleyball program this spring as a redshirt freshman. She will join the indoor club for the 2024 campaign as a junior defensive specialist.
MK Roberts
Defensive Specialist | 5'7 | Dalton, Ga. (UNC Asheville) | A5 Chattanooga (Club)
Roberts comes to Cookeville after spending her first two seasons of indoor competition at UNC Asheville. The defensive specialist took part in nine of the team's 28 matches during the 2023 campaign, totaling four service aces, six digs, and 17 receptions.
As a true freshman in 2022, Roberts competed in 23 of the Bulldogs' 26 tilts, racking up 114 digs, 21 aces, and eight assists. She piled up a season-best 18 digs with three aces at Charleston Southern that season and posted another pair of double-digit dig matches against Radford and USC Upstate.
A native of Dalton, Ga., Roberts was a two-sport athlete at Gordon Lee Memorial High School in Chickamauga, Ga., earning four letters each in volleyball and track & field. A two-time All-State honoree and three-time All-Region member, she was also named Defensive Player of the Year as a senior.
She helped lead GLMHS to back-to-back state runner-up finishes as a junior and senior. During her career, Roberts recorded 1,540 assists, 209 aces, 1,275 digs, 256 kills, and 76 blocks while playing just about every position at some point.
The daughter of former Tennessee Tech baseball outfielder Bobby Roberts, she guided the GLMHS to a pair of state titles in track & field. She was a member of the 4x800-meter relay squad that finished second in the state championships.
THOUGHTS FROM HEAD BEACH VOLLEYBALL COACH ZACH WEINBERG
"MK will be a great addition to our beach program as we head into year two," Weinberg said. "She is someone with a lot of beach experience on the juniors level, and while she didn't compete in beach volleyball at UNC Asheville, she continued playing the sport and stayed at the top of her game. She will absolutely make us better this season and I'm thrilled to see her take the sand for the purple and gold."
THOUGHTS FROM HEAD VOLLEYBALL COACH JEANNETTE PHILLIPS
"MK will be a dynamic new member to our family here," Phillips expressed. "Once we get back to indoor in the fall, we know that we can expect her to be a very explosive back court player and we welcome her enthusiasm and passion to compete. We are thrilled to be able to offer MK a new home here at Tech and she will fit in very well, as she is authentic, passionate, and a good teammate. We always say that we can do great things with great people and MK lives up to that statement beautifully. With her addition, we will continue to grow as a team in every aspect and we will continue to ascend."
Photo by Thomas Corhern
