Austin's Takes on the New 2023 National Rankings

Putting together a list like this is not easy. For the past couple of years, I’ve been fortunate enough to collaborate with the vast network of Prep Dig scouts and help cover some of the nation’s top prep volleyball talent. When you dedicate the first half of the calendar year to hopping between club tournaments, you soon realize how much the sport has grown at the junior level. Assembling rankings, therefore, involves hundreds upon hundreds of player evaluations. Of course, we don’t have to take on these considerations alone. It’s been gratifying to collaborate with our scouting network and club coaching groups to put these rankings together. Many people fall under both of those umbrellas, too. So, with the 2023 rankings hot off the presses, I’ve got a few personal reflections on the players and trends that I’ve seen from this class. Expect a medley of national and local perspectives here, which is at the heart of our coverage philosophy here at Prep Dig.   Never Too Late to Become a Stock Riser Though the Class of 2023 is about to embark on its final season of high school competition this fall, that doesn’t mean there’s not some room for late movement among this group. As I look down our list of 2023 athletes, I see a ton of players who used this year’s club season to boost their stock ahead of this rankings release. [player_tooltip player_id="141120" first="Reese" last="Robins"] and [player_tooltip player_id="195475" first="Jurnee" last="Robinson"] are two names that jump out right away. These two spectacular athletes clashed for the 17U title at Triple Crown NIT in February and gave us plenty of reason to move them up this high in the rankings. Chris Fitzgerald and I left Kansas City marveling at the impact of Robins and Robinson on such a big stage. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <a href="https://x.com/a5volleyball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@a5volleyball</a> takes the first! [player_tooltip player_id="195475" first="Jurnee" last="Robinson"] is going OFF. <a href="https://x.com/hashtag/TCVolleyballNIT?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TCVolleyballNIT</a> <a href="https://t.co/Qdam20cm7C">pic.x.com/Qdam20cm7C</a> — Austin Kingsley (@KingsleyATK) <a href="https://x.com/KingsleyATK/status/1495866502809100295?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 21, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>   I can point to a few other Triple Crown NIT stock risers on our rankings, too. The Sunshine duo of [player_tooltip player_id="160313" first="Olivia" last="Babcock"] and [player_tooltip player_id="159523" first="Torrey" last="Stafford"] dazzled us throughout that weekend and showed they have the physicality to match up with anyone. [player_tooltip player_id="66328" first="Ava" last="Sarafa"] also staked her claim as one of the nation’s top setters when she performed with Michigan Elite at NIT. Others made their mark during national qualifiers. The 1st Alliance hitter pair of [player_tooltip player_id="156466" first="Kennedy" last="Wagner"] and [player_tooltip player_id="138648" first="Grace" last="Egan"] made early waves with a spectacular weekend in Omaha for January’s NLQ. That tournament also gave rise to players like OTVA’s [player_tooltip player_id="98990" first="Zeta" last="Washington"] and Skyline’s [player_tooltip player_id="141139" first="Harley" last="Kreck"]. It shouldn’t be a surprise that big tournaments yield the best opportunities for players like these to stand out.   Around the Map We’ve got some nice regional variety here. The nice thing about having a state-focused platform is that you can call on experts from tons of different areas to get input for a national-scale project. Of course, covering events with a national focus has given me some nice scouting opportunities from outside my home base in Nebraska. [caption id="attachment_196804" align="alignright" width="400"]<img class="wp-image-196804" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/05/IMG_8420-crop-3546x2328-1653197176-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="263" /> Reilly[/caption] But, I might as well start by getting a word in on the Midwest. The Class of 2023 is absolutely stacked here in the Great Plains, with many of these athletes regularly battling week after week at the same tournaments. [player_tooltip player_id="101566" first="Ella" last="Swindle"] and [player_tooltip player_id="99216" first="Ashley" last="Mullen"] are two elite setters from just the Kansas City area, while South Dakota’s [player_tooltip player_id="195471" first="Bergen" last="Reilly"] has also represented the Plains well at the setter position. It’s also worth mentioning the pin hitter standouts in this class from the Great Lakes down to the Ohio Valley. Three of the top four overall 2023 prospects are from this area, with [player_tooltip player_id="66319" first="Harper" last="Murray"], [player_tooltip player_id="85895" first="Chloe" last="Chicoine"], and [player_tooltip player_id="114534" first="Caroline" last="Jurevicius"] all part of this ever-growing section of the volleyball landscape. The West Coast will always have a major foothold in the prep talent pool, and that’s not changing with the Class of 2023. The Wave combination of [player_tooltip player_id="161445" first="Julia" last="Blyashov"] and [player_tooltip player_id="160346" first="Auburn" last="Tomkinson"] was one of my favorite pairs to watch this year. Claire Little brings that same kind of firepower for Coast. Don’t forget about the Oregon volleyball scene, though, as players like [player_tooltip player_id="91306" first="Sophie" last="Gregoire-Salagean"] will continue to put that state on the map. However, if there’s a geographical region that is exhibiting the most growth with the Class of 2023, it might be the Southeast. Yes, you can always expect Florida to be set on prep talent. [player_tooltip player_id="98983" first="Jordyn" last="Byrd"] and [player_tooltip player_id="98984" first="Maddie" last="Snider"] are just a couple of names to know there. But adjacent success is also being seen throughout Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee. A5 has been a major catalyst for that success in the Atlanta area, and players like [player_tooltip player_id="195494" first="Sydney" last="Bray"] and [player_tooltip player_id="195498" first="Ashley" last="Sturzoiu"] keep proving that the Southeast will be a force to be reckoned with.   Powerhouses Reloading...and Parity Emerging? In the world of volleyball recruiting, it’s often true that "the rich get richer." You get used to seeing familiar schools on these rankings. [caption id="attachment_196809" align="alignright" width="400"]<img class="wp-image-196809" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/05/IMG_7486-crop-3609x2370-1653197369-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="263" /> Bunton[/caption] The Class of 2023 will bring high-level talent to most of the college programs that are expected to be at the top of the pack. Nebraska claims three in our top ten with the aforementioned Murray, Jurevicius, and Reilly, while Texas snags two with Swindle and [player_tooltip player_id="106665" first="Nya" last="Bunton"]. Overall, the Big Ten leads all conferences with 23 commits from our list. The Pac-12, often thought to be in a struggle with the Big Ten for conference supremacy in college volleyball, has 13 commits in our 2023 rankings, though a couple more may be coming soon. Sure, we expect those conferences to be here, but let’s mix in a bit of parity. If you’re looking for reasons to believe that the college volleyball hierarchy is becoming more diverse, it’s probably wise to look at the SEC and the ACC. The Southeastern Conference hoisted its first-ever NCAA volleyball national championship trophy in April 2021 thanks to Kentucky’s triumph in Omaha. Later in the calendar year, the Atlantic Coast Conference placed two teams in the national semifinals with Louisville and Pittsburgh making unprecedented appearances for both of those schools. Tallying up the Class of 2023 commitments for these conferences yields 11 for the ACC and 14 for the SEC. We’re not seeing a total one- or two-team monopoly in either of these conferences, so intra-conference competition ought to start flourishing alongside inter-conference parity.