Top 250 “Alums” Find College Success, Set To Sign
Prep Dig is heading into the four year of running the Top 250 Showcase Circuit. We started in 2018 with our first events in Omaha and Milwaukee and have continued to provide opportunities for athletes to get exposure in a variety of ways by not only competing on the court, but through our articles and social media we provide, before, during, and after the event.
After watching the state tournament in Iowa and Wisconsin while also thinking about the upcoming Top 250s I couldn’t help but think of some of the kids we first saw at our events. Especially, the past year and half with limited time for college coaches to see live, we were able to provide showcases for athletes to not only gain exposure, but play with other high caliber athletes.
Here are some Top 250 Alums that just really stand out to me in the past few years that are either playing college volleyball, will be signing a national letter of intent, or just made their verbal commit to where they will be playing college volleyball.
Solid combo for @CapitalVbAll 16 Adidas with Evin Jordee and Ellie Gustafson. #pdgauntlet pic.twitter.com/GH8xNbVBVR
— Chris Fitzgerald (@PrepDigChris) May 30, 2021
Ellie Gustafson – Capital Volleyball Academy – Class of 2023 – Committed to St. Thomas
Gustafson goes to a high school that has just over 100 students….total. She’s a small town athlete who plays for Capital Volleyball Academy. However, due to covid and 2020 she didn’t get much of a chance to play and be seen. She came to a showcase and jumped on our radar quickly. We kept tabs on her, saw her play more, and fast forward and shes a top 20 player in her class and has verbally committed to play at St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN.
Rachel Rossman a 2022 setter out of Indiana who plays for Epic 17 National is looking real strong this morning! Great hands pic.twitter.com/Ut390aCIae
— Chris Fitzgerald (@PrepDigChris) November 21, 2020
Rachel Rossman – Epic (IL) – Class of 2022 – Committed to Oakland
My first reaction to seeing Rossman playing last year was. Who is this? And why have I not seen her play? Rossman is from the Illinois/Indiana border where she plays high school at Crown Point out of Indiana where she had a very decorated career and club for Epic out of the Chicagoland area. Rossman had such command of the court, pin point placement, and she had an X-Factor that was tough to nail down what is was where she just made everyone better on the court, her energy was infectious. Not even a month after the Top 250, she verbally committed to Oakland, a member of the Horizon League.
Meghan Scholz – Wisconsin Ice – Class of 2023 – Committed to DePaul
This was another, “Who is this?” Scholz is known well in Northern Wisconsin, but the 6’3 middle blocker from Tomahawk, Wisconsin was pretty unknown at the time to the rest of the state. We got her on our radar pretty fast after coming to our showcase. Scholz would go on to make the Badger Region High Performance Team and continued to impress college coaches around the Midwest. She committed to De Paul this fall.
Claire Ammeraal – Capital Volleyball Academy – Class of 2022 – Committed to Central Michigan
Alia Schlimgen – Capital Volleyball Academy – Class of 2022 – Committed to South Dakota State
Ammeraal and Schlimgen, like most, were really hit hard with the rules that Covid imposed on colleges and even Dane County (Madison, WI Area). Ammeraal jumped onto the radar as a Freshman at our first ever Top 250 in Wisconsin, but this past year she attended showcases in Wisconsin and Michigan while her high school season was canceled and gym restrictions were extremely strict. Schlimgen had an injury her sophomore year which took her out of the club season and as she was coming back – Covid. I would see them at our events and was always fun to see them because they competed so hard and made everyone else better on the court. They will be signing this week to play Division 1 volleyball.
Doing my best to help athletes and coaches out during this time. Here are video clips I have from our events the past two months of the Iowa Class of 2021. Feel free to tag and share! pic.twitter.com/9HbNOpQNZJ
— Chris Fitzgerald (@PrepDigChris) March 18, 2020
The Iowa Class of 2021
We had our first Iowa Top 250 in West Des Moines at Ignit Sports Center, home of Club Ignit Select where we saw a really talented Class of 2021 come in and make a major statement. Athletes who ended up committing to some top schools across the country. This was an example of what the best of the best looks like in a state. Athletes who eventually would commit to all levels of play.
Mia Gamet – Dordt
Jadyn Jondle – South Dakota
Kinsie Zinnel – Coe
Trinity Zika – Iowa Western
Emmy Wedgbury – Northwestern (IA)
Leah Moeller – Grand View
Hailey Pollock – Western Illinois
Layanna Green – UNI
McKenna Scheib – Bradley
Macey Tisue – Coe
Alysen Dexter – Northwestern (IA)
Dani Johnson – UNI
Saari Kuehl – Southwest Minnesota State
Natalie Welch – Southwest Minnesota State
Paige Kisely – UNI (Track)
Annie Stotlar – Waldorf
Elyse Winter – South Dakota State
Macy Vanfossan – Truman State
Zoe Rus – UW-Parkside
Taylor Grinley – Eastern Kentucky
Nessa Johnson – Missouri Western
Gracie Ehret – Kirkwood
Payton Cook – Grand View
What Makes a Prep Dip Top 250 Different?
Most of the kids in the gym know each other. They know each other through seeing each other on the high school and club courts, and various camps. However, for this event they are all on the same team. In order for each other to look successful, they need to be help each other out. Some of these athletes are rivals from high school and club and they soon figure out they kind of enjoy playing alongside each other. The atmosphere at our events are low risk, high reward. We want the athletes to have fun and in the meantime the Prep Dig scouts get to see athletes go head to head. Its competitive, but again, its a quick chance for athletes to ease into the club season and a chance to get into recruiting mode.
We’re less than two weeks from Wisconsin, followed by a fast and furious December full of events across the country.
Super cheesy, but one thing I love to do is bring people together. From the athletes to their parents and coaches involved thank you so much for a great Top 250 season! To these Wisconsin athletes – keep crushing it! 🔨💯🏆 pic.twitter.com/2xCi73LagJ
— Chris Fitzgerald (@PrepDigChris) December 16, 2019