Gabbin’ With Gabby – A Look Back At August

Breit Nelson September 1, 2018 @ 08:53 PM

[player_tooltip player_id="33082" first="Gabby" last="Johnson"] is an under the radar recruit from the 2019 class, and she is gearing up for her senior season while attending Stevens Point Area High School (SPASH). Johnson is a 5’7 middle blocker and pin hitter that plays for Wisconsin Ice and is searching for the best fit for her to compete in college. Senior year can be a ton of fun but it can also be daunting with a lot of big decisions to be made. Johnson is looking at going into Journalism so we thought this would be a good opportunity to work on those skills as well as give other prep athletes and their parents an idea of what that final year of high school looks like while still in the recruiting process.   A little bit of background: SPASH has started their 2018 season 8-1 and has no plans on slowing down. They have a tremendous group of athletic upperclassmen this fall with a ton of experience and one particular hidden gem is their 2019 5’7” Middle Blocker/Pin Hitter, [player_tooltip player_id="33082" first="Gabby" last="Johnson"]. She is not dominating in height but she is explosive; and with her fast arm swing, she can bury the ball. During the 2018 Club season she made the Wisconsin Ice 17 Purple squad and was a key piece in their success winning the JVA Wisconsin Cup 17/18s division. Johnson is not only a standout on the court but also a conference champion in the triple jump and runner-up in long jump for track and field. She finished 10th in long jump at the State Track and Field Championships in 2018 after qualifying with an 18’3” jump. Johnson is in the middle of the recruiting process and searching for the best fit for her to compete in college. She is open to competing in both volleyball and track and field and has talked with multiple schools in the Midwest. She wants to compete at the highest level possible and to be with a highly competitive program because she plays with a great deal of passion and intensity, going all out on every play. Her hard work ethic is shown in the off-season with her running footwork and plyometric drills anytime she has the opportunity.   Prepping For The Final Season “Most people’s summer consisted of swimming, and going to the beach, but for me and my teammates, summer was filled with practice, summer league, tournaments, and tryouts. As much as I am dreading the school part of my senior year, I can’t wait to dive into volleyball season. One of my favorite parts of preparing for my senior season has definitely been getting new volleyball gear. This year the shoes, knee pads, socks, and jersey I will be sporting on the court are from my favorite brand, Adidas. Our team looks so sharp, that just our apparel alone will intimidate our opponents. Though our wardrobe is sleek, our skills will be even better. This week specifically, we drilled mostly on serving. Being the only part of volleyball that you have full control over, it is necessary that we practice tough serving. Though serving drills always mean running lines, it definitely helps us to perform under pressure. As for me, summer has come and gone so quickly, it hardly feels like I left school at all. Going back to school for senior year also means deciphering which college I want to attend. This is easily the one thing that stresses me out every time it comes across my mind. If you’re like me, who isn’t very tall, it is extremely difficult to be recruited by the big schools I always wanted to play at. This means that I have to reach out to them. I compiled a highlight video and sent it to all the schools I could think of. For someone who wants to play volleyball at the collegiate level, my biggest piece of advice would be to reach out to as many schools as you can, because you never know what coach might see something in you that others don’t. Though senior year brings many factors that might stress me out, I am so excited to compete with my favorite people for one last high school volleyball season.”