Storylines and Standouts from the Skutt Invite

What a day of volleyball! It’s hard to give a brief summary of all the incredible plays and performances I saw at Omaha Skutt High School on Saturday. This is just what happens when you put a group of great teams together in one gym: you’re going to get a spectacular show. Perhaps equally exciting for me was the opportunity to see a couple of teams from outside Nebraska. Seeing teams for the first time is always a thrilling experience. So, after all this buzz, I managed to come up with some themes that stood out from the tournament. I’ll also be giving plenty of shoutouts to those players who impressed at what was arguably one of the top tournaments of the high school volleyball season.   Commits Everywhere...and Husker Heaven If you want a good indicator of the level of talent at this event, let’s look at some of the college-committed athletes I got to see: We’ll start with those out-of-state teams I mentioned earlier. St. Teresa’s Academy, from Kansas City, MO, has a great leader on the outside in senior [player_tooltip player_id="111979" first="Margaret" last="McInerney"]. The University of Chicago commit was effective on the left pin throughout the day. The same can be said of [player_tooltip player_id="41238" first="Payton" last="Lombardi"] for West Des Moines Valley, who, despite being slated to play libero at Tennessee Tech, showed some firepower as an outside hitter for the Tigers. While I was busy scouting these teams that I hadn’t yet seen in person before, these two really stood out. Of course, there was a jaw-dropping number of committed players among the in-state schools, too. With Omaha Skutt, the list is seemingly endless. [player_tooltip player_id="58184" first="Allie" last="Gray"], a 2021 setter bound for Arizona State, has exceptional control of her offense. Her tempo and deception are of immeasurable value to her team. [player_tooltip player_id="37531" first="Abby" last="Schomers"], meanwhile, showed a deadly arm at opposite. She’s capable of playing in the middle, too, so she’ll have plenty of opportunities to shine when she heads to Central Florida in a couple of years. While there’s understandably a lot of hype around Skutt’s hitters, don’t lose sight of [player_tooltip player_id="37978" first="Bre" last="Skala"]. The Regis University commit anchored the backcourt from the libero position. What a luxury to have someone who can regularly pass dimes and make brave defensive plays. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> A tight first set goes to <a href="https://x.com/SkuttCatholicVB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SkuttCatholicVB</a> on a kill from <a href="https://x.com/UCF_Volleyball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@UCF_Volleyball</a> commit [player_tooltip player_id="37531" first="Abby" last="Schomers"]! <a href="https://t.co/3g2CsJVznE">pic.x.com/3g2CsJVznE</a> — Austin Kingsley (@KingsleyATK) <a href="https://x.com/KingsleyATK/status/1314978629756112906?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 10, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> And, of course, Skutt wasn’t the only team at the tournament with a D1-bound setter. It was another great performance on Saturday for [player_tooltip player_id="37529" first="Ava" last="LeGrand"], who will take her talents to Kansas State. My thoughts on Papio South are pretty straightforward: they have a roster full of players who will have a tremendous opportunity to play college ball. They just haven’t committed...yet. Yes, there are two big names I haven’t mentioned yet. I’m getting there. Indeed, we got to see two #1-ranked players in their respective classes -- and they’re both committed to Nebraska. Saturday’s tournament was one of the most complete performances I’ve seen [player_tooltip player_id="11300" first="Lindsay" last="Krause"] put together. That says a lot. Her onslaught of floor-denting hits was just amazing. Speaking of big arms, we also saw Iowa’s #1 2022 prospect in [player_tooltip player_id="17322" first="Hayden" last="Kubik"]. Her attacks are surely incredible, but this future Husker needs to get a lot of credit for her passing. It’s spectacular. It was only fitting that we wrapped up the day with a duel between these two future teammates. Another slice of Husker Heaven in Omaha. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> The pass and HEAT from [player_tooltip player_id="17322" first="Hayden" last="Kubik"]! <a href="https://x.com/hashtag/Huskers?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Huskers</a> <a href="https://x.com/WDMValleyVB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WDMValleyVB</a> <a href="https://t.co/19yYUgcZVz">pic.x.com/19yYUgcZVz</a> — Austin Kingsley (@KingsleyATK) <a href="https://x.com/KingsleyATK/status/1315020067848032259?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 10, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>   Uncommitted Talent That’s a lot about the committed players, but what about the uncommitted talents? I could talk about this one forever. Lincoln East has a pair of long, athletic front-row players to watch. [player_tooltip player_id="103115" first="Annalee" last="Ventling-Brown"] and [player_tooltip player_id="112002" first="Brooklyn" last="Fuchs"] paired up for plenty of blocks throughout the event. Their size and strength paired well with the hard-hitting attack of players like [player_tooltip player_id="82583" first="Brooke" last="Peltz"] and [player_tooltip player_id="109470" first="Delaney" last="Novy"] on the outside. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Nice swing on the right from [player_tooltip player_id="103115" first="Annalee" last="Ventling-Brown"] for <a href="https://x.com/LincolnEastVol1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LincolnEastVol1</a>! <a href="https://t.co/k6YHczFeCr">pic.x.com/k6YHczFeCr</a> — Austin Kingsley (@KingsleyATK) <a href="https://x.com/KingsleyATK/status/1315007131507027969?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 10, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> For St. Teresa’s Academy, 2023 outside hitter [player_tooltip player_id="101697" first="Reagan" last="Fox"] was hard to miss. She’s already very seasoned in the way she approaches and swings. Fox gets up high, and she is only going to get better. Being six-foot-two doesn’t hurt, either. West Des Moines Valley largely runs their offense through the pins, but don’t forget about [player_tooltip player_id="111992" first="Brenna" last="Gion"] and [player_tooltip player_id="92631" first="Anna" last="Bernhard"] in the middle. These middles were particularly disruptive in stuffing all of the strong pin hitters that were in the gym Saturday. Big celebrations usually followed those massive blocks. Another middle that impressed all day was senior [player_tooltip player_id="82599" first="Aliah" last="Clarke"] for Papio South. Like Gion and Bernhard, Clarke was a blocking machine. A roofing company, if you prefer. In any case, she was the anchor to a very stout Titan defense. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> [player_tooltip player_id="82599" first="Aliah" last="Clarke"] hammers the overpass for <a href="https://x.com/PLSouthTitanVb?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PLSouthTitanVb</a>! <a href="https://t.co/JGyU5Jedq6">pic.x.com/JGyU5Jedq6</a> — Austin Kingsley (@KingsleyATK) <a href="https://x.com/KingsleyATK/status/1314995501926961152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 10, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> The last name I’ll mention here is [player_tooltip player_id="59194" first="Morgan" last="Burke"]. This 2023 prospect has found a solid and vital role in the Skutt offense. She’s just so versatile that you can’t keep her off the floor. Burke crushed balls on the left, right, and I know she can also set. I’ve seen it all. Skutt has a ton of seniors, of course, but be on the lookout for their rising young stars.   Stingy Defense My one last shoutout goes to the defense! What else can I say? The defensive effort and skill on display Saturday was tremendous. It comes from a combination of talented defensive specialists and do-it-all six-rotation hitters. The tournament had a lot of both. Papio South always makes great use of its corps of amazing defenders that includes [player_tooltip player_id="82412" first="Harlei" last="Cole"], [player_tooltip player_id="82600" first="Andjelija" last="Petrovic"], [player_tooltip player_id="111990" first="Kynley" last="Sis"], and libero [player_tooltip player_id="82578" first="Delanie" last="Vallinch"]. They’ve all been so steady this year. Lincoln East gets great passing from Novy and Peltz at the outside hitter spot. Overall, the long rallies I saw on Saturday were indicative of some incredibly strong defensive rosters. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> This rally 😳😳<a href="https://x.com/PLSouthTitanVb?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PLSouthTitanVb</a> <a href="https://x.com/STAsports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@STAsports</a> <a href="https://t.co/4OxspB8v5L">pic.x.com/4OxspB8v5L</a> — Austin Kingsley (@KingsleyATK) <a href="https://x.com/KingsleyATK/status/1314964321542246402?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 10, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>   After all that excitement, you know I can’t wait to hit the road again. See you then.