CHATTANOOGA --- The Chattanooga indoor volleyball team is proud to reveal one of the team's newest additions for the coming 2024 season, with the team officially signing transfer Chiara Napoli out of the transfer portal, as announced by head coach Julie Torbett on Tuesday.
Napoli, a six-foot lefty setter from Saint-Raphael, France, joins the Mocs after playing her previous two seasons for North Carolina A&T. While with the Aggies, Napoli appeared in all 52 of the team's matches over the previous two seasons. Napoli will have two more years of eligibility remaining in her career once she joins the UTC squad, as she is set to enter her junior season in the NCAA.
"So happy that Kiki (Chiara Napoli) has joined our team this spring," Coach Torbett said. "It will give her the opportunity to learn our system and work on the timing with our hitters before next season. She is very motivated to be a great player."
Over the past two seasons, Napoli has showcased an extremely well-rounded stat line for the Aggies with the France native currently holding career averages of 6.16 assists/set, 2.07 digs/set, 0.78 kills/set, 0.50 blocks/set and 0.41 aces/set. As a sophomore this past season, Napoli was able to log a total of 10 double-double performances for NCA&T. She has a total of 17 double-doubles in her career.
Napoli's career-high for assists also came during her sophomore season with the Aggies, as she logged a total of 46 assists in North Carolina A&T's match against Appalachian State. This was one of her four 40+ assist performances of the season for her team.
Outside of her time with North Carolina A&T, Napoli also has extensive experience training and competing with the French national team. Napoli's time representing France came primarily during the 2021-22 and 2020-21 seasons, where she was a member of the France Avenir teams in each of those seasons. Napoli continues to be involved in national team training back in her home country.
On a club level, Napoli was a member of the Pole France Volley IFVB squad before joining the Saint-Raphael team in 2019 for the Confederation Europeene de Volleyball Cup, where she was the youngest player in attendance at the competition. Additionally, Napoli attended a total of three Western Europe Volleyball Zonal Association tournaments with the French team, and at the 2019 European Championships, her team came in eighth place overall.
Napoli attended Lycee Bellevue in Toulouse, France, for high school, where she graduated in 2022. While in high school, Napoli played under head coach Laurent Delacourt.
Born February 8, 2004, Chiara is the daughter of Siam and Franck Napoli. Additionally, Napoli's godfather currently plays outside hitter for the French national team in volleyball. Napoli will pursue her degree in criminal justice while playing at Chattanooga.
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