OSKALOOSA — Playing close to home proved to be enough incentive for Oskaloosa’s Jessica Snowbarger to sign an NAIA national letter of intent to play volleyball for William Penn University.

Snowbarger added that she’s familiar with not only the team but Lady Statesmen coach Rick Pruett as well, playing on a club team.

That made her signing with the Lady Statesmen a relatively easy decision.

“I’ve played for Coach Pruett before and I know a lot of the girls. I’ve seen them play and I like the school,” she said. “I also applied at Missouri Valley and it came down to William Penn. Osky’s a better town and Penn is a better school.”

She added that there are a lot of Oskaloosa kids signing with William Penn and that helped he make her decision to sign with the Lady Statesmen.

“A lot of Osky kids are going there, like a lot of the football guys are going too,” Snowbarger said. “I’m not really getting away from everybody, but it’s cool to still be with them all. It’ll be fun.”

Snowbarger is expected to play a variety of positions, although Pruett said she won’t be a middle blocker.

She was the Indians’ third-leading hitter with 205 kills for the season, averaging 2.2 kills per game. She had just three assists last season, but was Oskaloosa’s top setter as a sophomore. Snowbarger had 195 digs to lead the team and served 91.2 percent with 56 aces.

She was a four-year starter for the Indians, Snowbarger was twice her team’s MVP, while also claiming Special Mention All-State honors twice. She was a three-time all-district selection and two-time all-conference pick as well. Also a member of the Iowa Power Volleyball Association club team, Snowbarger is a Wendy’s Heisman Award nominee.

“I’ll play wherever he needs me,” Snowbarger said.

Pruett is elated to get a player of Snowbarger’s caliber into the program.

“This is a great boost for our program because when you sign local talent like Jess, this is huge for William Penn volleyball,” he said. “She’ll be coming in as a freshman right away and help us out. She’s one, when you sign, you can build a program around because of her talent and she can play so many different positions. Being a local Oskaloosa talent, it’s just awesome to sign her.”

The Lady Statesmen have recorded three winning seasons in its last four years, including claiming the Midwest Classic Conference title in 2002 and earning the program’s first regional tournament appearance in 2004.

When Pruett took over the Penn program two years ago, he saw Snowbarger play when she was a sophomore setter and knew she was awesome and he had to keep her at the local college.

“I thought she could help us there (setter) then they turned her into an outside hitter and she was awesome there,” he said. “She’s played libero and defense for our club team. Just having someone with other options who can help you in so many different ways is going to be priceless because you just don’t find that type of talent all the time.

“I’m so excited to have Jess as part of our program.”

Snowbarger expects to major in elementary education while at William Penn and she has shown great aptitude in the classroom. She is a member of the National Honor Society as well as being on the Honor Roll all four years in high school. She was also a two-year academic all-conference performer.