The University of Idaho women’s volleyball program has landed a standout recruit from the California coast, as Harbor High School junior Cecile Novembre officially committed to join the Vandals beginning in the fall of 2027.
Novembre, a 6-foot outside pin hitter and first-team all-Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League selection, announced her commitment on May 1 after completing an extended official visit to Moscow, Idaho — one that lasted three days rather than the customary one or two. The extra time, she said, was necessary to get a genuine sense of the university, the surrounding community, and the town itself.
Head coach Romana Redondo Kriskova extended an offer to Novembre while she was still on campus. Within 24 hours, Novembre accepted.
“I am, literally, over the moon,” Novembre said. “I am so excited. It’s obviously nice to commit early and not have to worry about college admissions or the recruiting process anymore, because it’s definitely a tedious thing.”
A Scholar-Athlete With a 4.0 and Division I Pedigree
Novembre’s recruitment process began with her own initiative — she crafted outreach emails that included highlight video links and distributed them to coaching staffs at dozens of universities across the country. Redondo Kriskova was among those who responded, and the connection quickly deepened from there.
On the court, Novembre served as the kills leader for the Harbor Pirates, who posted a 26-11 overall record and captured the 2025 Central Coast Section Division IV championship. Her Harbor head coach, Matt Schutz, described her as a versatile front-row threat.
“She’s legit,” Schutz said. “She can kinda do anything. She can dominate at the net with her blocking, and when we needed a kill, we were giving her the ball.”
Off the court, Novembre is equally accomplished. She participates in Harbor High’s International Baccalaureate Diploma Program and carries a 4.0 grade-point average. She plans to pursue a degree in architecture or design at the University of Idaho, a program well-suited to her academic profile.
Athletics run deep in her family. Her father Pete competed in track and field at Rutgers University, and her mother Sandy played collegiate volleyball at both the University of Georgia and the University of San Francisco.
Novembre Drawn to Idaho’s Landscape and a Program on the Rise
For Novembre, the decision was as much about environment as athletics. Having grown up entirely in Santa Cruz, she was deliberately seeking something different — a place with seasons, mountain terrain, and open space. Idaho’s abundance of national parks, monuments, and preserves factored into her thinking, as did a prior visit to Coeur d’Alene that left a lasting positive impression.
“I wanted to go somewhere that wasn’t a beach town,” Novembre said. “I wanted to go someplace that was gonna have snow, that was maybe going to have nature all around it.”
She’ll join a Vandals program that is working its way back to competitiveness. Redondo Kriskova, now in her second year leading the team, inherited a program that won just one match in her first season. The squad improved to 6-22 last year, and the coaching staff has built a nationally diverse roster in the process. The program’s last winning season came in 2018.
Novembre said she sees opportunity in joining a rebuilding team, where playing time and program impact are more immediately within reach.
“I like that they’re a building program,” she said. “I’d love to be a part of the new class, a player that’s really playing on the court, be a key player and help build their program.”
Redondo Kriskova brings credibility to the rebuilding effort. She played collegiately at Virginia Commonwealth and later at the University of Wisconsin, where she was part of a Big Ten championship squad and NCAA Tournament runs to the Sweet 16 and Elite 8. She then competed professionally for six seasons before transitioning to coaching.
Novembre said the coach’s player background was a significant factor in her decision.
“I like that she was a player, a very experienced player,” Novembre said. “I feel like it really taught her a lot and really adds to her knowledge of the sport.”
The University of Idaho competes in the Big Sky Conference. For more on U of I athletics and campus news, see our ongoing coverage of the Moscow campus, which has also seen recent developments including new leadership at the College of Law and an international engineering partnership with Hiroshima University.
What Comes Next
Novembre still has her senior season at Harbor High ahead of her before heading to Moscow in the fall of 2027. She will look to build on her all-league honors and help the Pirates compete for another section title. On the recruiting trail, her commitment closes the chapter on what she described as a demanding but rewarding process — one she navigated largely on her own initiative.