April 13, 2018
San Jose, Calif.--Caitlin Bettenay, a 5-11 outside hitter from Queensland, Australia, will join the San José State volleyball program beginning the 2018-19 school year, as announced by Spartan head coach Jolene Shepardson.
Bettenay comes to San José State from Portland State where she played two seasons and was a 2017 All-Big Sky first team honoree. She led the team in kills this past season with 392, 3.81 per set, and was second in the conference. Bettenay led the team in kills in 16 matches and recorded 20-plus kills in five matches. Her freshman year, Bettenay was second on the team in kills at 196 (2.55 ps) and added 24 service aces, 183 digs and 15 blocks.
In the classroom, she earned two Big Sky Fall All-Academic honors as a pre-physical therapy major with a minor in health.
In beach volleyball, Bettenay was selected to represent Australia at the 2017 FIVB under 21 World Championships held in Nanjing, China. She finished first at the Bundaberg Major State Tournament in 2018 and qualified for the 2017 World Championships at the Asian under21s Beach Volleyball Competition in Thailand.
Bettenay has competed internationally for Australia in indoor volleyball since she was 15 and started internationally in beach volleyball when she was 17.
"I was immediately drawn in by the competitive, encouraging and holistic culture that the coaching team have created at SJSU," said Bettenay. "They care about their players on and off the court and always put the team first. I also found that there was this amazing environment that encourages players to play both disciplines of indoor and beach volleyball. This suits me perfectly as I am passionate about volleyball and love the challenge of competing in both arenas. I'm very excited to be apart of the Spartan team!"
"I was drawn to Caitlin to join our program because she has already proven herself as an impact player at the collegiate level," stated Shepardson. "She comes here with a great desire to improve everyday to go back to Australia and compete on a national level in both indoor and beach. Her deep passion for both beach and indoor fits perfectly into our program."
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