2021 Dallas Area Middles Poised for a Strong Senior Season

<p>Middles are not a dime a dozen.  Dominant middles are hard to come by.  It takes a special talent to be able to patrol the entire net for a whole match and be productive.  I myself have tried to play middle and it takes a lot out of you to exert that much effort on every single play.  Middles in this day and age of volleyball are the track stars of the team.  They must have a lot of endurance along with their power. The following young ladies are no exception.  They are all verbally committed to universities and we think their senior season will be fun to watch. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> [caption id="attachment_88184" align="alignleft" width="279"] Photo Credit: Gregg Riddle - Dallas News[/caption] <p>[player_tooltip player_id="87390" first="Shaylee" last="Shore"] [2021] 6-2 Middle (HS: Prosper/Club: Dallas Skyline/Verbal: Rice)</p> <p>Shaylee possesses some of the fastest footwork in the class when patrolling the net in the middle. It is exceptionally visible when running her slide sets.  It’s almost as if her feet barely touch the ground.  You can also see her quick footwork when she transitions off the net and has to stop on a dime to run a quick set.  She is fun to watch and I would love for some of my younger middles to watch her on video and study her amazing footwork.  She has the power and the brains to go with it and she will showcase it all at Rice University in a few years.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> [caption id="attachment_88185" align="alignright" width="300"] Photo Credit: Rylee Ferguson - Student News[/caption] <p>[player_tooltip player_id="87395" first="Madison" last="Gilliland"] [2021] 6-2 Middle (HS: Coppell/Club: Dallas Skyline/Verbal: Texas Tech)</p> <p>Watching Madison impose her presence while at the net can be very apparent by her noticing how she has such command of her upper body.  She keeps her hands high while moving to the hitter, she keeps her shoulder blades spread out and presses very well to seal the net.  She is one of the great defensive middles in this class.  While attacking at the net, she creates a lot of torque in her swing to unleash her power.  She has good textbook form all around.  I know she will do great things in the Big 12 at Tech.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> [caption id="attachment_88186" align="alignleft" width="206"] Photo Credit: Ernest Seniors[/caption] <p>[player_tooltip player_id="87396" first="Lyric" last="Stewart"] [2021] 6-0 Outside/Middle (HS: Lake Ridge/Club: TAV/Verbal: Georgia)</p> <p>Now playing as an Outside hitter but also a swing blocking middle from nationally known Texas Advantage Volleyball club is a dual threat volleyball athlete.  She plays outside for her high school team also.  She is in every serve receive lineup so she obviously has great ball control. She possesses a lightning quick arm that punishes defenders if they are in the right place at the right time. She committed to Georgia as a freshman. The sky is the limit with this one. I plan on keeping tabs on her senior season as I expect a lot of fireworks from her as she leads her team. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> [caption id="attachment_88187" align="alignright" width="233"] Photo Credit: SportsRecruits - TAV[/caption] <p>[player_tooltip player_id="87402" first="Tyrah" last="Ariail"] [2021] 6-0 Middle (HS: Lebanon Trail/Club: Texas Advantage/ Verbal: USC)</p> <p>This high flier is committed to USC and will play with the big girls in a few years in sunny California. When you watch her play you are in awe of her high touch when attacking.  Its no wonder she wreaks havoc with her nationally ranked Texas Advantage club team.  She can literally do it all from the middle.  I’ve seen her score from every single position at the net.  It doesn’t matter if she uses a one foot takeoff or two, she will get the kill.  If she were on my team, she would be so full because we would feed her early and often. She skies over defenders at ease. I will be looking forward to watching her on TV soon.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> [caption id="attachment_88188" align="alignleft" width="169"] Photo Credit: Allen HS[/caption] <p>[player_tooltip player_id="87427" first="Chloe" last="Thomas"] [2021] 6-0 Middle (HS: Allen/Club: Madfrog/Verbal: UNLV)</p> <p>This extremely athletic middle who used to be teammates with [player_tooltip player_id="87396" first="Lyric" last="Stewart"] hits the ball with so much power that you almost feel sorry for the ball.  She also runs a variety of sets with her high school and club teams.  Her follow through on her arm swing is very strong which helps her power.  Almost no one will win a joust with Chloe.  She just possesses so much strength in her upper body.  Opposing outsides next year better not leave any type of seam in their tandem block with their middle because she will exploit it.  If it does happen, I hope they have an all American left back to hopefully get a touch.  If not, I doubt anyone will touch that awesome raw power she uses.  UNLV will be getting a good one in Miss Thomas in a few years. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Dallas has been one of the best in the nation when grooming young middles over the past decade or so. This crop we just mentioned proves it. Stay tuned for more middles across the state that we will be covering soon.  If you have any players you think we should be covering, feel free to email me at nov8vb@yahoo.com</p>