WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Head coach Dave Shondell signed Michigan State outside hitter Akasha Anderson.
The 6'3" hitter led Michigan State's offense last season as an opposite, starting every match and producing 3.77 points per set as a junior. Anderson had a breakout match at then-No. 16 USC (10/24), scoring 30.5 points including a career-high 26 kills and 13 digs. In total, Anderson led the Spartans in kills in 19 matches, blocks four times and digs twice.
She will join the Boilermakers on campus in January ahead of her upcoming senior season.
Anderson began her collegiate career at Auburn, where she spent her freshman and sophomore campaigns as a starter. After receiving 2022 AVCA South Region Freshman of the Year and All-SEC recognition and ranking among the top-10 freshmen in the nation in kills, kills per set, points and points per set, she went on to lead the Tigers as a sophomore with 3.28 points per set and 3.37 kills per set as a six-rotation pin. Anderson hails from Reston, Virginia, where she was named 2021-22 Gatorade Player of the Year for Virginia.
2024 / AS A JUNIOR AT MICHIGAN STATE
2023 / AS A SOPHOMORE AT AUBURN
2022 / AS A FRESHMAN AT AUBURN
HIGH SCHOOL
The 6'3" hitter led Michigan State's offense last season as an opposite, starting every match and producing 3.77 points per set as a junior. Anderson had a breakout match at then-No. 16 USC (10/24), scoring 30.5 points including a career-high 26 kills and 13 digs. In total, Anderson led the Spartans in kills in 19 matches, blocks four times and digs twice.
She will join the Boilermakers on campus in January ahead of her upcoming senior season.
Anderson began her collegiate career at Auburn, where she spent her freshman and sophomore campaigns as a starter. After receiving 2022 AVCA South Region Freshman of the Year and All-SEC recognition and ranking among the top-10 freshmen in the nation in kills, kills per set, points and points per set, she went on to lead the Tigers as a sophomore with 3.28 points per set and 3.37 kills per set as a six-rotation pin. Anderson hails from Reston, Virginia, where she was named 2021-22 Gatorade Player of the Year for Virginia.
2024 / AS A JUNIOR AT MICHIGAN STATE
- Started all 31 matches
- Led the team's offense with 356 kills and 410.5 total points
- Led Michigan State in kills over 19 matches
- Led the team in blocks on four occasions and digs two times
- Produced 20 double-digit kill matches
- Set a career-high 26 kills and 30.5 points at No. 16 USC along with a season-high and team match-leading 13 digs in her double-double performance (10/24)
- Went .500% at Michigan with 15 kills, three errors on 24 attacks
- Hit at a .400 clip or better three times in a four-match stretch during Big Ten play:.455% at Rutgers (17-2-33), .500% vs. Michigan (15-3-26) and .400% vs. Maryland (11-3-20)
- Set a season-high seven blocks at Iowa (11/17)
- Totaled 70 blocks, second-most on the team
- Finished the season with 17 aces
- Owned a 92.6 reception %
2023 / AS A SOPHOMORE AT AUBURN
- Started in all 27 matches she played in as a sophomore
- Averaged 3.82 points per set and 3.37 kills per set on 1,114 total attacks
- Was second on the team with 356 kills throughout the season
- Tied her career high with 26 kills in a five-set win over South Alabama
- Was second on the team and first among hitters with nine double-doubles throughout the year
- Complied the third-most aces on the team with 27
- Finished the year with career highs in aces per set (0.26) and digs per set (2.30)
- Had three matches (at South Alabama, vs Ole Miss, at Mississippi State) with more than 20 kills... Reached double digits in kills in 22 matches
- Had a career-high .448 hitting percentage with 14 kills and 11 digs against LSU
2022 / AS A FRESHMAN AT AUBURN
- Played in all 31 matches for the Tigers, starting in 27 of them
- Ranked top-5 in the SEC in total attacks, kills, kills per set, points and points per set
- Was top-10 in the Nation among freshmen in kills, kills per set, points and points per set
- Was named SEC Freshmen of the Week twice
- Named to the SEC All-Freshman Team
- An All-SEC Selection
- Named to the AVCA South All-Region Team
- Awarded the 2022 AVCA South Region Freshman of the Year
- Hit a career-best .526 on Aug. 27 vs Marist
- Piled up a career-high 18 digs in win over Alabama on Sept. 25
- Recorded her first double-double on Sept. 9 vs UAB with 24 kills and 14 digs
- Notched the second-most double-doubles on the team with nine
- Had at least 10 kills in 23 matches
Stacked up at least 20 kills in eight separate matches - Her 428 kills were the 2nd-most in a single season at Auburn as was her 3.54 kills per set and 1,240 total attacks
HIGH SCHOOL
- Named the team captain for the 2021 season
- Multi-time All-District Team selection
- Selected to PrepVolleyball.com's FROSH 59 List
- Northern Region D Player of the Year
- 2021 Class 6 Liberty Conference District Player of the Year
- 2021-22 Virginia Gatorade Player of the Year
- played for Virginia Elite club team since 2016
- 2021 and 2022 JVA All-National Team selection
- Named to 2021 and 2020 JVA Ultra Ankle Watch List
- 2021 Under Armour All-America nominee
- 2021 Sunshine Volleyball Classic Star Search
- Selected to 2020 AVCA Phenom List
- Named to 2020 PrepVolleyball's Watch List
- 2019 Capitol Hill Class Star Search
- Tabbed to 2018 AVCA Phenom List
- 2018 and 2017 Team Excellence Award winner
- Selected to the 2020 USAV High Performance Program
- Named to the 2019 and 2018 USAV Girls Select A1 Program
- Played at HP World Championships in both 2018 and 2019
- Selected to 2017 USAV Girls Future Select National Training Program
- Academic Excellence Award winner
- Member of the National Honor Society
- Four-year member on both the academic and athletic honor rolls