USA Jr Nationals Preview – Austin Skyline 15 Royal

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>USA Jr Nationals, which will be held in Chicago at the end of June and early July, is the ultimate test to the end of the season as it will bring together all of the teams who have earned a bid to participate.&nbsp; These wonderful teams have proven themselves through a very long and grueling club season and will compete against other top notch teams who have earned the right to play in this prestigious tourney.&nbsp; We will be highlighting teams and individual players that we think you should be watching during the tourney in this series of articles.&nbsp; Let's take a look at a few names to know!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Austin Skyline 15 Royal will be competing in the Open Division of USA Jr Nationals.&nbsp; They are from the Lone Star Region and have been making a name for themselves in national qualifiers all season long.&nbsp; They have done something special that not many squads can say they have done…they have QUADRUPLE Qualified in the Open Division.&nbsp; This super talented team is loaded with studs.&nbsp; Here are just a few of the names to know from their talented squad.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='318138' first='Sydney' last='Lund']&nbsp;[2026] 6-1 Setter (HS: Dripping Springs/Club: Austin Skyline/Verbal: Uncommitted)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"right","id":402637,"width":117,"height":153,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2023/06/Sydney-Lund-e1687296821779.jpg?w=781" alt="" class="wp-image-402637" width="117" height="153" /></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sydney is currently ranked as the 21^st best overall prospect in the 2026 class according to our Prep Dig Texas State Rankings.&nbsp; She plays volleyball at Dripping Springs High School and also plays club for Austin Skyline.&nbsp; Length in the setting position is highly coveted amongst high-level college coaches and Miss Lund has a lot of it.&nbsp; She is not only tall, but is also a very talented distributor of the rock.&nbsp; She is capable of battling it out at the net while blocking and then transitioning to deliver perfect sets to her attackers with speed and grace.&nbsp; Her hands are very technically sound as they are perfect mirror images of each other at and after contact of the ball.&nbsp; I love her posture while setting as it definitely aids in her setting consistency.&nbsp; This young lady can paint the bullseye every time on the target with ease.&nbsp; She spreads the ball around to all of her hitters and keeps the defense guessing.&nbsp; This kind of spread attack has definitely helped to keep her squad flexing their muscles against the best of the best.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='318198' first='Riley' last='Malloy'] [2026] 6-4 Outside (HS: Austin/Club: Austin Skyline/Verbal: Uncommitted)&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"right","id":402638,"width":117,"height":148,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2023/06/Riley-Malloy-e1687296885320.jpg?w=804" alt="" class="wp-image-402638" width="117" height="148" /></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Riley is currently ranked as the 54^th best overall prospect in the 2026 class according to our Prep Dig Texas State Rankings and is moving up very fast for our update next month.&nbsp; She plays volleyball at Austin High School and also for the Austin Skyline club program.&nbsp; Her golden right arm can be seen unleashing thunderous slams on opponents at will in every tournament.&nbsp; Her downswing is one of the fastest in the age group and that is why the ball rebounds off of her hand so fast toward the court.&nbsp; What I am super impressed with is her footwork as she moves around the court.&nbsp; It is super balanced and never sticks to the ground too much, which helps her bounce.&nbsp; She can run very fast tempos because of her quick feet and this keeps the defense on its heels quite often.&nbsp; I attribute a lot of this team's success to the foundation they have built on training footwork with their players.&nbsp; If you haven't heard her name yet, this is your opportunity to check her out in Chicago.&nbsp; Your coaching staff will thank you for recruiting such a powerhouse.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='321291' first='Christa' last='Wilburn']&nbsp;[2026] 6-1 Outside (HS: Reagents School of Austin/Club: Austin Skyline/Verbal: Uncommitted)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"right","id":402639,"width":111,"height":160,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2023/06/Christa-Wilburn-e1687296969503.jpg?w=710" alt="" class="wp-image-402639" width="111" height="160" /></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Christa is currently an unranked prospect in the 2026 Class according to our Prep Dig Texas State Rankings, but that will change next month when I update the list.&nbsp; She plays volleyball for Regents School of Austin High School and also plays club for the Austin Skyline volleyball program.&nbsp; There is no stopping the right arm of Miss Wilburn as she can score from any location on the court.&nbsp; Her raw power can be viewed in every match she plays in because she was born to decimate the ball.&nbsp; Skyline routinely sets her out of the back row and she comes in very clutch threading the ball through seams of the block or completely around it.&nbsp; She has been trained very well to hit the ball to the corners approaching from the pipe position in middle back.&nbsp; Her long reach also allows her to still swing hard during out of system sets when she doesn't have a lot of time to transition fully to her touch point.&nbsp; Her ball control out of the back row is just as dangerous as she is a true six-rotation pin who can do it all.&nbsp; Take note of her now and you won't be disappointed.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Libero [player_tooltip player_id='318849' first='Raegan' last='Ramirez'] steadies the ship for this amazing squad in the back row.  Her ball control is exceptional out of serve receive as she can create some amazing angles with her platform and keep it very still on contact.  Allison O'Shaughnessy is another talented opposite and second setter on this awesome team.  Her talents can be seen in a variety of ways contributing the Skyline's success.  Middles [player_tooltip player_id='375211' first='Claire' last='Nelson'] and [player_tooltip player_id='319822' first='Linden' last='Pennings'] are two that you do not want to mess with.  They patrol the net well and put up solid numbers both offensively and defensively.  There are many more stars on this team that we will be watching all tourney long.  Stay tuned for more on their journey in Chicago. We will be watching all of them very closely as they embark on what could be a fantastic ending to an amazing season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Stay tuned for more articles on your favorite teams and athletes that will be attending nationals.&nbsp; If you have anyone you think we should watch out for, please shoot me an email with some info at <a href="mailto:Michael@prepdig.com">Michael@prepdig.com</a>.&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 -->