USAV GJNC – Top Performers Class of 2025 Vol 5

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>USA Volleyball held it's Girls Junior National Championships in Indianapolis at the Indiana Convention Center on June 26-30^th.&nbsp; This is a very prestigious tournament in which teams actually had to earn their bid to play in it.&nbsp; The qualification process is super tough throughout the year and the best of the best rose to the top.&nbsp; Prep Dig was on hand to cover every serve, set, kill, and pass of the ball from start to finish.&nbsp; This series of articles is going to cover those athletes that stood out to me during the 10 days that I was covering the tournament.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This article is devoted to the 2025 class.&nbsp; I will be discussing quite a few of the wonderful athletes who wowed the crowd many times.&nbsp; Although I could easily write an article on every player, this will be about those who caught my eye for various reasons.&nbsp; Without further ado, let's meet a few of them.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='366853' first='Julia' last='Waller'] [2025] 5-7 Setter (HS: Cardinal Newman/Club: Absolute/Verbal: Uncommitted)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"right","id":215141,"width":169,"height":220,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/08/Julia-Waller-scaled-e1660081847412-786x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-215141" width="169" height="220"/></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Julia is currently an unranked prospect in the state according to the 2025 Prep Dig California State Rankings.&nbsp; She plays for Cardinal Newman High School and plays club for Absolute Volleyball.&nbsp; Miss Waller is an athletic setter from the northern California area.&nbsp; She is very gifted with her footwork and it allows her to track any pass and dig down from her back row very easily.&nbsp; She hardly ever puts her heels on the floor as she is moving toward the ball, which keeps her extremely bouncy.&nbsp; I love how she was flying all around the court and jump setting every attacker to keep the defense off balance.&nbsp; It is very refreshing to watch a young setter be that quick and nimble around the court with her kind of speed.&nbsp; Her hands were also something to marvel at as the ball came out so quickly and smoothly to all of her attackers.&nbsp; She was exceptionally good at running a quicker tempo with her middles, which kept her team in contention with everyone in the division.&nbsp; She will be one setter that I will keep my eye on as we unveil the rankings soon.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='366834' first='Keila' last='Gabriel'] [2025] 6-1 Right side (HS: Del Norte/Club: Wave Volleyball/Verbal: Uncommitted)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"left","id":215147,"width":110,"height":180,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignleft size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/08/Keila-Gabriel-scaled-e1660081938846-626x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-215147" width="110" height="180"/></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Keila is currently an unranked prospect according to the 2025 Prep Dig California State Rankings.&nbsp; She plays for Del Norte High School and plays club for Wave Volleyball.&nbsp; This lefty can bang on the right side! I love how she uses her arms on her up swing to get her hand high and on top of the ball while attacking.&nbsp; She is fully capable of moving the ball around the block by turning in mid-air.&nbsp; She can go sharp angle or paint the line with authority.&nbsp; She is a swing blocker who times the attacker perfectly.&nbsp; I love how she spreads her shoulders out to for a great seal of the net during her press on the block.&nbsp; Miss Gabriel should have no problem making the rankings once I publish them.&nbsp; Stay tuned for more on this youngster as we rev up the high school coverage this month.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='185908' first='Sunni' last='Skipps'] [2025] 5-9 Right Side/Outside (HS: Carson/Club: Mizuno Long Beach/Verbal: Uncommitted)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"right","id":215149,"width":179,"height":232,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/08/Sunni-Skipps-scaled-e1660082047221-790x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-215149" width="179" height="232"/></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sunni is currently an unranked prospect according to the 2025 Prep Dig California State Rankings.&nbsp; She plays at Carson High School and also club for the Mizuno Long Beach volleyball program.&nbsp; On a team full of stars, Miss Skipps shines bright on the right side.&nbsp; While she may be a bit smaller than some opposites in height, she makes up for it with her vertical.&nbsp; She creates a lot of momentum with her entire approach to rise up and throttle the ball past would be blockers.&nbsp; I love how picturesque her transition footwork and approach is.&nbsp; It is beautiful to watch for a volleyball purist.&nbsp; She has amazing control with her golden left arm as she moves the ball around at will to thwart the defense.&nbsp; I am very high on this youngster's potential and will be watching her closely.&nbsp; Stay tuned for more on Miss Skipps.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We will be continuing with more players in each position in the next few articles that stood out to me while I covered nationals.&nbsp; 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 -->