“The Camp” – Top Performers Vol 4

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Our Lady of the Lake University coach Raul Bernal, Schreiner University coach Jeremiah Tiffin and former University of Texas at San Antonio coach Laura Groff put on a wonderful invitational volleyball camp that is dubbed “The Camp” last week.  Prep Dig was in attendance and saw some great players.  A lot of them are listed either on our State Rankings or they are on our watch list to potentially be added.  This is a who's who of Central Texas volleyball players and we were very excited to see the awesome players on the courts. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This series of articles will highlight the players that stood out to me for a variety of reasons.&nbsp; Here are some of the players who starred:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='180181' first='Caitlin' last='Hefner']&nbsp;[2025] 6-1 Middle (HS: Westlake/Club: Austin Juniors/Verbal:&nbsp; Uncommitted)&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"right","id":212356,"width":172,"height":184,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/07/Caitlin-Hefner-scaled-e1659036037819-954x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-212356" width="172" height="184"/></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Caitlin is currently ranked as the 17^th&nbsp;best overall prospect and 4^th&nbsp;best middle in the 2025 class according to our Prep Dig Texas State Rankings.&nbsp; She plays at Austin Westlake High School and for the awesome Austin Juniors.&nbsp; She showcased very well at the camp during both the individual positional drills and scrimmages.&nbsp; I saw a lot of promise from Miss Hefner as a blocker.&nbsp; Her length and power play a big role in how she is able to be a formidable stopper at the net, but there is another aspect that may get overlooked.&nbsp; I love both how she times the attacker in order to slow them down and also how she presses her hands over the net.&nbsp; It is a fantastic seal of the net so that there is nowhere for the ball to go but to stay on the attacker's side.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='212733' first='Kaia' last='Thiele']</strong> <strong>[2025] 5-9 Setter/Right Side (HS: Cornerstone Christian/Club: Alamo/Verbal: Uncommitted)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"left","id":212358,"width":183,"height":207,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignleft size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/07/Kaia-Thiele-scaled-e1659036119823-905x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-212358" width="183" height="207"/></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kaia is currently an unranked prospect in the 2025 class according to our Prep Dig Texas State Rankings, but is definitely on our radar with what we just saw from her.&nbsp; Miss Thiele plays at Cornerstone Christian High School and also club for the nationally known Alamo Volleyball program.&nbsp; Her stock has risen tremendously in the past month due to what I witnessed in person at nationals as she helped lead her squad to an Open division national championship.&nbsp; It has also risen with what I saw at the camp.&nbsp; She was very smooth in her movement tracking each ball off of passers' arms.&nbsp; But what really stands out is just how accurate she is delivering the ball to all locations from anywhere on the court.&nbsp; She could easily hit a target multiple times in a row.&nbsp; The other reason why I am so high on her is because of her versatility.&nbsp; She is capable of being a scoring threat in the front row on the right side and/or stay in the front row to set while still being able to put up a decent block against the opposing left sides.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='192043' first='Kiana' last='Souza'] [2024] 5-5 Libero (HS: Harlan/Club: Top Gun/Verbal: Uncommitted)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"right","id":212359,"width":208,"height":198,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/07/Kiana-Souza-scaled-e1659036205878-1024x972.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-212359" width="208" height="198"/></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kiana is currently an unranked prospect in the 2024 class according to our Prep Dig Texas State Rankings, but is on our watch list for sure.&nbsp; Miss Souza plays at Harlan High School and also club for Top Gun.&nbsp; Ki was super smooth on the court in left back.&nbsp; I love how the ball comes off of her platform on both digs and serve receive.&nbsp; On the court she is so serious about winning and does whatever it takes to help her team stay competitive.&nbsp; She uses her long arms to extend her range well beyond the average touch range of a libero.&nbsp; I also love how she is able to read the offense and put herself in a position to set the second ball as the opposition hits toward the setter.&nbsp; She is a star and will be looked at by our scouts to see if she can break into the State Rankings soon.&nbsp; I believe if she continues to work on her craft, she will have a great shot.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We will be covering these players and more with insight into their skills and other intangibles that we see from them during individual positional drills and game play.&nbsp; Stay tuned to see who stood out as top performers.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>And 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.&nbsp; Also don't forget to help these kids get more exposure by sharing our stories with your friends.&nbsp; Help us help them by simply retweeting on Twitter or sharing on Facebook.&nbsp; Thanks for following Prep Dig Family!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->