College signees include Watertown's Thury, Hitchcock-Tulare's Schroeder & Aberdeen Central's Thorstad

Three more area high school athletes — volleyball players Emery Thury of Watertown and Katelyn Schroeder of Hitchcock-Tulare and soccer player Addyson Thorstad of Aberdeen Central — announced their college designations on National Signing Day on Wednesday.

Thury, a 5-10 senior outside hitter-defensive specialist, signed with St. Cloud (Minn.) State University and Schroeder and Thorstad inked with Northern State University.

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Emery Thury, Watertown

The senior volleyball standout is a two-time All-Eastern South Dakota Conference performer who also earned Class AA all-state first team honors as a junior. She also competed in girls basketball and track and field at WHS.

A three-year regular, she has 447 kills and 317 digs for an Arrow team that will take a 25-6 record into next week's state Class AA tournament at Sioux Falls.

The daughter of Monty and Stacey Thury of Watertown plans to major in elementary education and minor in coaching at St. Cloud State. The Huskies are currently 23-2 overall and 17-0 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.

"Emery is a quick-twitch outside hitter and can really explode to the volleyball with her fast approach and ability to be a terminal hitter. She sees the court very well and is very solid in serve receive," St. Cloud State head coach Chad Bragelmann said.

"Defensively, she does a great job of anticipating where opponents are attacking as well. Emery can certainly be a very potent weapon in the front row and a defensive asset in the back row and has the potential to become a six rotation outside hitter down the road."

Katelyn Schroeder, Tulare

Schroeder is one of two Wednesday signees announced by Northern State head coach Brent Aldridge.

The 5-foot-11 outside hitter is a five-year starter and three-year team captain for the Hitchcock-Tulare Patriots, who went 31-2.

Schroeder has produced 1,474 kills, 1,577 digs, 156 blocks and 158 aces during her high school career and hold seven school record. She is a three-time Class B all-state honoreer and a four-time All-281 Conference selection.

The daughter of Jim and Erin Schroeder has also competed in basketball and track and field for the Patriots.

“Katelyn has been on our radar since she was very young when she came to camp at Northern. I look for Katelyn to get us back to our roots with our outsides playing six rotations. She can handle the ball both on serve receive and also defensively in the back row," Northern head coach Brent Aldridge said. "I like her ability to go fast to the pins as well. She has some shots in her game all ready. Pretty solid overall game at the high school level.”

Addyson Thorstad, Aberdeen

The 5-foot-7 defender is one of 12 student-athletes announced as new additions by Northern State soccer coach Bob Casper.

The daughter of Brad and Sara Thorstad earned academic all-state and All-Eastern South Dakota Conference honors for the Golden Eagles as a senior this fall. Her father Brad played baseball at Northern State.

“Addyson is a center back who brings a levelheaded approach that is very valuable for her role. She will challenge for a ball at the right times, which is key for players in the backline. Addyson has also worked hard to improve her individual defending moments and can regularly divert attackers away from goal," Coach Casper said.

"She reads the game well and provides support for her teammates out in front of her. Addyson looks to support the team during possession and can work to grow in the variety of passing she provides as the team builds out. Her training habits are very strong and will help to raise the overall level of play in training and games.”

Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: [email protected]