May 1, 2008

The University of Texas-Pan American women's volleyball program announced on Thursday (May 1) that Kristalyn Bielik (Manitoba, Canada/ Selkirk H.S.) has signed a National Letter of Intent and will join the Lady Broncs for the 2008-09 academic campaign.

"We are so excited to have such a high caliber of player as Kristalyn join our roster," said head women's volleyball coach Angela Hubbard. "Kristalyn has played at a very high level for several years in Canada and will be able to bring that with her to make an immediate impact within our program. I look forward to Kristalyn's arrival to UTPA and the future of BRONC Volleyball."

The newly-inked Lady Bronc comes to the Rio Grande Valley from Manitoba, Canada, where she was a four-time letterman for the provincial Team Manitoba which is composed of the provinces standout players (equivalent to a regional or all-state team in the US).

Bielik led her team to three consecutive Selkirk High Schools Athletic Association titles and collected 4A All-Tournament team honors. In 2007, the newly-signed Lady Bronc was part of a team that won the Canadian Open National Championships 17U division.

The future Lady Bronc was voted to the Manitoba High School Athletic Association Graduating All-Star roster in 2007. This past January, Bielik was selected to be a starter for the Selkirk Royals 18U volleyball club that won the Provincial Championships.

In the summer of 2006, the newly-signed Lady Bronc was a member of the Canada Prospect Team (class of 2008) that placed 30th of 215 teams at the Festival of Volleyball in Reno.

In 2005, Bielik was a member of Team Manitoba Black 16U that captured the silver medal at the Western Elite Championships.

This summer, Bielik will be competing with Team Manitoba and will play in the National Challenge Cup in July. Team Manitoba is currently ranked number one in nationals.

Bielik will join the Lady Broncs' program of the upcoming 2008-09 academic campaign.

UTPA Sports Information