LOS ANGELES – UCLA women’s volleyball head coach Alfee Reft continues to bolster his 2023 roster, announcing his newest signee in transfer outside hitter Joy Umeh from UC Irvine.
“We are very excited to have Joy join the Bruin Family,” Reft said. “Joy has had success playing at UC Irvine and has been a big contributor for that team in a solid volleyball conference. She is a strong attacker who can score in many ways. She will bring a dynamic style of play to our offense and blocking unit and upgrade the level of play for our team overall.”
Umeh, a two-time All-Big West selection in the 2021 and 2022 seasons, has one year of eligibility remaining with the Bruins in 2023. As UC Irvine’s right side hitter, Umeh led the Anteaters in kills her sophomore and junior seasons with 425 kills and 395 kills, respectively.
The 5-foot, 8-inch Lakewood, Calif. product helped turnaround the UC Irvine program from a 5-23 mark her freshman season in 2019 to a 20-10 record in 2022 with impressive wins over Long Beach State and Cal Poly to end the year. She ranked fifth in the Big West Conference in kills per set in 2022 with a 3.53 average and led her team in kills on 15 occasions.
As a sophomore in 2021, Umeh hauled in All-Big West First Team honors after posting 3.73 kills per set, good for third best in the conference. She registered a career high in kills with 26 against Long Beach State on Oct. 16 of that season.
Umeh prepped at Mayfair High School where she was two-sport star in volleyball and track and field. She was a two-time First Team All-Suburban League performer in volleyball and honored as the Suburban League’s Most Outstanding Field Athlete.
Umeh was a CIF Division II finalist in the long jump in 2018 and triple jump in both 2017 and 2018. She holds the Mayfair High School record in both events with a mark of 17-feet, 7.25-inches in the long jump and 38-feet, 10-inches in the triple jump.
Umeh joins fellow transfer Carly Hendrickson (OH/Florida) and freshmen Kat Lutz (DS/L), Sydney Breon (DS/L), Brooklyn Briscoe (MB) and Ashley Mullen (S) in Reft’s first group of new Bruins.
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