Triple Crown Recap – Austin Skyline 15 Royal
I went into a practice last season to highlight a club and their 15-18’s players. The gym was filled with high-level ballers on every court. The coaching staff was working team and individual players really hard. Director Jenny Luke walked…
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Continue ReadingI went into a practice last season to highlight a club and their 15-18’s players. The gym was filled with high-level ballers on every court. The coaching staff was working team and individual players really hard. Director Jenny Luke walked me around and introduced me to some wonderful players and we conducted one on one interviews with these college hopefuls. Just about when I was ready to leave for the night, she asked me if I wanted to see her 14’s as they were pretty special and were having a great season. I said sure, not knowing what I was about to witness. I stood adjacent to their court watching the coaches bomb away at a 17-18’s level to some young players. What I saw was not only were the players able to complete each three part drill at a high level, but the players were enjoying being pushed by the staff. I knew then what would happen this year. It was only a matter of time.
Fast forward to this past weekend at the Triple Crown NIT in Kansas City. The 15’s age group has some serious ballers who are about to take over the state. The future of volleyball is in great hands with this 2025 age group for sure. I was able to see twelve Texas 15’s teams in person at the tournament and it gave me great insight into the Rankings that are about to be released this week. I have been working on them for the past two months and was going to use this tournament to finalize some placement that was still in question. What I saw blew me away. Austin Skyline 15 Royal is ready for center stage.
They were just outside of the power pools going into the tournament but were ready to prove they should have been seeded in them all along. These youngsters breezed through the opening pool going undefeated which set them up on a road through the challenge matches to try to reach the Elite Bracket. They won their opening challenge match against MI Elite 15 Mizuno and it set them up for a showdown with a familiar foe that they battled multiple times last year. AZ Storm 15 Thunder, which came into the tournament ranked number one overall in power pool A, went undefeated in that pool amongst other Open level teams in it. I was able to watch the entire match which had so many Division I college coaches watching. These two teams put on a stellar show and although Austin Skyline barely lost by two points, the match could easily have gone the other way as the scores were (25-27, 25-12, 13-15). They finished 18thoverall and went 8-2 overall on the three day weekend. The two matches they lost were to teams that finished in the top ten of the tournament and both matches went to three sets. The entire Skyline roster is stacked and we will be writing about them again throughout the year, but here are the players that stood out on this team while I watched them three times this weekend.
Addison Gaido
Addison
Gaido
6'5" | RS
Georgetown | 2025
State
#45
Nation
TX
[2025] 6-4 Right Side (HS: Georgetown/Club: Austin Skyline//Verbal: Uncommitted)
Addy stars at Georgetown High School and also for Austin Skyline. This lengthy right side is one of the best at her position in the state. We will be releasing the rankings this coming week and she will for sure be listed. Her size is the first thing that people will notice, but true volleyball aficionados will marvel at how well she uses great footwork to be able to shut down opposing hitters at the net and also how she drives hard into the court to create momentum into her approach. Miss Gaido is superb as an attacker and can hit both quicker tempo sets along with normal high tempo sets with power. The scary part about her is that she has only begun to improve and will no doubt be recruited by almost every school in the country. If you do not know her name by now, give it some time…you will.
Callie Krueger Callie Krueger 5'5" | DS/L Cedar Park | 2025 State #22 Nation TX [2023] 5-5 Libero (HS: Cedar Park/Club: Austin Skyline//Verbal: Uncommitted)
Callie has made a huge splash since switching over from the setting position to the libero spot. In only one year, this kiddo makes it look like she has been in the position for the last five. Her volleyball IQ is out of this world and many of us watching noticed it as she knows all of the rotations and who is supposed to be in the game at all times. I watched her footwork and movement very closely instead of watching the rally and she is always one step ahead of everyone and puts herself in the best position to play the ball. I love how it looks like she is able to see deflections before they happen because she is always in a fantastic position to play the errant ball to keep her team in the rally. Her touch on the ball is amazing and she showed me that she should be in the running for one of the best liberos in the state of Texas. Stay tuned to see where she lands once the rankings come out.
Lily Dee Davis Lily Dee Davis 6'2" | OH Austin Westlake | 2025 State #98 Nation TX [2025] 6-1 Outside (HS: Westlake/Club: Austin Skyline//Verbal: Uncommitted)
Lily Dee is the workhorse of this team. Her right arm is one of the best in the state for sure. Being the left side hitter, she will get a majority of the sets just due to how the game of volleyball is played out of system. Usually with the high volume of attempts comes a lower efficiency rating, but Lily can score almost at will. Most spectators will see her physical attributes and power that she possesses, but I saw a young player who is well beyond her years in attacking. She had a variety of shots and knew exactly when to use each one to score on some great defenses from across the country. This kid has every shot imaginable from hard cross, sharp angle, turning down the line, across her body down the line, and a filthy off-speed roll shot. But the one aspect that I love the most is her attitude toward her teammates and competition. She relishes in these big moments and plays the game the way it was meant to be played…with total enjoyment. She motivates everyone before the match, during big moments, and celebrates her teammates hard when they get a big kill or block. She is fun to watch and I can’t wait to introduce her with her State Ranking this week.
Jacy Carrejo Jacy Carrejo 5'11" | S Leander | 2025 State TX [2025] 5-11 Setter/Right Side (HS: Leander/Club: Austin Skyline//Verbal: Uncommitted)
Jacy is a very skilled setter/hitter who runs a six-two offense and doubles as a right side for this prolific offense. She plays at Leander high school and will star for them for the next three years for sure. Not many can pull off what she does while setting and hitting at a very high level. The ball comes out of her hands very smoothly and she is capable of setting every location along the route tree for each position with accuracy. Not every setter/hitter can be a point scorer for their team, but Jacy does it from both pins with power out of serve receive. The one aspect that will keep this team scoring at a high clip is when she delivers the outside set at a quick tempo. It is unstoppable for an entire match and she delivers it on time and accurately to her left sides. Jacy also helps create one on one matchups for Addy on the right side when she pushes the ball against flow. Keep this name on your list of setters to watch because she has only begun her career.
Riley Certain Riley Certain 6'1" | OH Dripping Springs | 2025 State TX [2025] 6-0 Outside (HS: Dripping Springs/Club: Austin Skyline/Verbal: Uncommitted)
Riley is a fantastic six-rotation left side for Dripping Springs high school who will be next in line to lead them to glory. She is a big part of her club team’s offensive game plan also. Most teams only have one or two pins that can throttle the ball when needed, but this ATX attacker can drop the hammer also. She has a great frame that college coaches will love and can back it up with her play on the court. Her overall ball control in both the front and back row is elite. Miss Certain will be on our State Rankings and we cannot wait to introduce her to the nation this week. She came through in the clutch quite a few times for this team when they needed it in Kansas City. We will keep our eye on her for the foreseeable future as we think she has some untapped potential.
Amelia Robinson Amelia Robinson 6'1" | MB Llano | 2025 State TX [2025] 6-0 Middle (HS: Lago Vista/Club: Austin Skyline/Verbal: Uncommitted)
Amelia is a two-sport star for Lago Vista in both basketball and volleyball. She is on varsity for both sports. With pins like this team has, you would expect their middles to need a lot of work, but Amelia is an integral part of their defensive and offensive scheme. She patrols the net very well and uses her fantastic footwork to help her create a wall for opposing hitters at every location. She is just now coming into her own with volleyball as she has only played for a couple of years. This speaks to her elite athleticism to be able to play at this level after only a couple of years. But we see some serious potential in her in the sport of volleyball if she keeps at it. We know Director Jenny Luke and staff will have her ready for the next level for sure in a few years. Stay tuned to where Miss Robinson lands on our State Rankings list when it comes out.
This team is special and if it hadn’t been for seeding, we think they could have gone even further than they did in KC. Regardless of the finish, they are still primed for a fun winning season with what I saw from them. This team has incredible chemistry and you can see that the club fosters it well with them as Jenny runs a fantastic program overall. Watching the parents interact on the sidelines and the players interact on the court, you can see that they are in it together. We at Prep Dig are excited to keep covering them this season and can’t wait for the next tournament that we will both be at. Stay tuned for more on Austin Skyline 15 Royal.
As always stay tuned for more articles on your favorite athletes. If you have anyone you think we should watch out for, please shoot me an email with some info at nov8vb@yahoo.com. Also don’t forget to help these kids get more exposure by sharing our stories with your friends. Help us help them by simply retweeting on Twitter or sharing on Facebook. Thanks for following us, Prep Dig Texas Family! Don’t be afraid to interact with us. We love the likes, shares, and quotes/comments. Keep them coming!