2024 Rankings: Five Top New Additions

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='435228' first='Nadia' last='Miller']<br>Miller arrived on our radar late in the high school season and through her recent club role with Premier this allowed ample time to watch her compete. A 6'0 she has good athleticism for the middle position. What has stood out about her game play is that she is very effective due to the simple nature of her execution. She prepares herself well, moves with good efficiency, and has good court and game sense. Some of her best contributions come on the defensive side as she has good vision and blocking mechanics to get to both pins. Offensively, she develops good space and uses her vision well to move the ball around. She led her Eastwood team in 2022 with 3.2 k/s on a .301 efficiency in addition to a total of 64 blocks.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='435237' first='Aurelia' last='Ledbetter']<br>The 5'11 middle has big athletic ability as she is quick and gets off the floor well. As her explosiveness gets her eyes well above the net when attacking this allows her to use her vision in combination with her power and pace at the peak of her jump to terminate the ball fast. With a 10'1 touch point, she can contribute well on the defensive side equally as well. She has good length and gets across the net well to impact space for opposing hitters. She has a high ceiling and is coming off a productive season with Mintonette to return to Westerville South with improve quality of her movement and added competitive experience, which should increase her output during the upcoming high school season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='357084' first='Emily' last='Piehler']<br>Although just 5'10 and considered undersized by some as a middle, Piehler uses her tools well in combination with good volleyball I.Q. in all phases of her role. She is aggressive in her movements to get herself available offensively and makes the most of her opportunities with her ability to swing with arm control to move the ball around or make the right play with finesse. A key member for Medina's core performers in 2022, although not the first offensive option last season she did lead the Battling Bees defensively at the net as they finished 20-4 overall, including winning the Greater Cleveland Conference. Her role offensively should increase in 2023 following the graduation of her team's top two offensive threats.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='435234' first='Kyla' last='Shugert']<br>At 3.5 k/s in 2022, Shugert led Brecksville-Broadview Heights offensively with 263 total kills. She also picked up 10.5 d/s as one of the Bees' best all-around contributors. The 5'11 outside hitter uses an aggressive approach pattern with good lift when attacking. She is effective through her volume of work as she can create good pace upon contact while continuing to develop all the tools in her range to swing line, wrist-away, and in challenging the hands at the net well. As a six-rotation athlete, she has good range in her defensive skills also out of the back row. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='435231' first='Peyton' last='Graham']<br>The Bishop Watterson middle had increased opportunities to showcase her offensive skills during the club season with Elite VBTC coming off of the 2022 high school season. This includes displaying good ability to score around the setter effectively and efficiently as her length and high elbow contact create advantages for her when on time. She has good footwork and ability to create good space based upon the location of the first touch to make herself available. As the Eagles graduated three of their top offensive performers from last fall, look for Graham to see more chances to score while also improving the impact she makes defensively as she was second on the team a year ago in total blocks.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->