Feb. 11, 2009

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Spokane Wash. native Averi Hallman of Mount Spokane High School has signed a National Letter of Intent to join the University of Memphis soccer program as announced Wednesday. She is the fifth of six signees on the Lady Tigers' 2009 signing class.

"We have very high expectations for Averi," said head coach Brooks Monaghan. "She was recruited to play outside forward and could also play as a wide midfielder. She plays with tremendous pace, and I believe that she comes in as one of the quickest players on our team."

The forward has four varsity letters for soccer at Mount Spokane High School under coach Ryan Campanella. She also earned four letters for basketball and two for track and field. She earned All-State first-team honors in 2008 and All-State honorable mention in 2007. She was a three-time All-League first-team honoree from 2006-2008 and the 2008 league Most Valuable Player. She set her high school record for career goals and assists notching 38 goals and 41 assists.

"Pace is something that you can't teach and Averi definitely has it. She just adds another weapon to our team's offensive arsenal. She's another player up top for us, similar to Ashley Berra or Krista Turner that plays with great pace. I think Averi has the ability to come in and push to play right from the start. We have very high expectations for her."

On the club level, Hallman was a teammate of current Lady Tigers Kelsey Bakker and Elise Kuhar-Pitters. Her U-18 Spokane Shadow club team won the Washington State Championship in 2007.

"She has the ability to cause teams a lot of problems because of her quickness," said Monaghan. "She is a tremendous athlete and a very good soccer player that can score a lot of goals."

Hallman is the daughter of Earl and Laura Hallman