Peter Dindinger — NMMI Sports Press
There will be a reunion next fall at UTEP when New Mexico Military Institute's Vittoria Price makes her way over to El Paso to join former teammate Hula Crisostomo.
In front of family, coaches and fellow teammates, Price put pen to paper when she officially signed with the Miners to continue her volleyball career.
"It was super exciting because UTEP reached out to me," Price said. "It's awesome to go play for a D-I that's close to home. Hula being on the team is just another bonus."
A native of Roswell and a former Goddard standout, Price was a lethal asset to the Broncos offensive arsenal this season as a middle.
Price garnered first-team Western Junior College Athletic Conference honors after finishing ranked 11th in NJCAA Division I with a .371 hitting percentage.
She had 151 kills, 13 service aces, 69 digs, seven blocked shots and 47 block assists in 76 sets played.
Price was a consistent threat as she recorded six or more kills in 16 matches. Her season-high kill total came during a four-set win over Western Texas College when she had 13 kills on March 10.
As a freshman, Price had 305 kills, 140 digs and 20 blocked shots to help NMMI finish 37-5 overall as the ninth-best team in the nation.
"I feel like NMMI has completely prepared me because I feel like we train like a D-I," Price said. "We workout hard, our coaches push us to get really good grades."
UTEP is a program on the rise with first-year head coach Ben Wallis.
The Miners finished 10-7 this season.
During the Conference USA tournament, UTEP defeated Marshall in straight sets to notch its first postseason win since 2008.
In nine matches played during her first year, Crisostomo had 140 digs. She had a game-high 32 digs during a match against UAB on Feb. 14.
Crisostomo and Price built a solid relationship between each other at NMMI.
"These two played really well together her freshman year," said NMMI head coach Shelby Forchtner. "They did a phenomenal job starting off the season 26-0 and getting to the national tournament."
The Broncos finished 16-8 this past season after landing in the WJCAC conference tourney championship.
Price ranked second in the conference in hitting percentage, seventh in block assists and 10th in block total with 54.
"She started pretty much every game for us her two years," Forchtner added. "The thing about Tori is she is just so unbelievably consistent. She gets up there and puts up numbers game after game.
"There was always consistency with her. I'm just excited to watch her do that at the next level. She's a fighter and a coachable kid. I'm excited that she's close too. Maybe we'll get to watch those two play as well."