FORT MYERS, Fla.- Which coast is the best coast? Florida SouthWestern State sophomore Kellen Valentim will soon be able to answer that question as the Bucs right side hitter will head across the country next season where she will play for the University of San Francisco after signing her National Letter of Intent on Monday.
Valentim played in 27 matches for the Suncoast Conference Champion Bucs this season, averaging 2.09 kills per set and hitting .258 from the right pin while also adding 36 blocks on the year. Valentim came up big when the Bucs needed her the most this season, with her top six hitting performances all coming against Top 10 ranked opponents. She had a career high 13 kills against #9 Polk State midway through the season and put up 12 against #1 Miami Dade late in the season at the FCSAA State Tournament. She wrapped up her FSW career in the Bucs 7th place match at the NJCAA National Tournament with 10 kills and a .421 hitting percentage against #4 Utah State-Eastern.
Also a star in the classroom, Valentim was a member of both the 2019 Suncoast Conference and FCSAA Academic All-State Teams.
Valentim will head to USF to play for the Dons in one of the top conferences in the country in the WCC. USF was 8-10 this season with all of their matches coming inside WCC play where they finished 6th behind the likes of Top 25 foes in BYU, Pepperdine, and San Diego.
With Valentim signing with the Dons, the Bucs now have six NCAA Division I signees among their inaugural sophomore class. She joins Viktoriya Ivanova (Gonzaga), Kianie Cummings (East Carolina), Yasso Amin (UTEP), Julia De Sa (James Madison), and Amanda Mendes (Arkansas-Pine Bluff), as well as Giovanna Bello who signed with Park University (NAIA).