10 States, 11 Noteworthy 2025 Commits
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Tis the season for summer commits. Hard to believe we haven’t even been in the open recruiting period for 2025s for two months and we already have plenty of athletes giving their verbal commit to the next level. Here are…
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Continue ReadingTis the season for summer commits. Hard to believe we haven’t even been in the open recruiting period for 2025s for two months and we already have plenty of athletes giving their verbal commit to the next level. Here are eleven athletes (maybe a couple more) from ten states to get to know a little bit about their game and where they are planning on taking their game to the next level!
Iowa
Molly Shafer Molly Shafer OH Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont | 2025 State IA – Outside Hitter – Adrenaline Volleyball Academy
Kate Shafer Kate Shafer S Eddyville-Blakesburg Fremont | 2025 State IA – Setter – Adrenaline Volleyball Academy
Committed to UNI
Northern Iowa loves to keep the top athletes in state and they did just that with this twin duo in Kate Shafer Kate Shafer S Eddyville-Blakesburg Fremont | 2025 State IA and Molly Shafer Molly Shafer OH Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont | 2025 State IA . Kate is the setter, Molly is the outside hitter where these two have combined for plenty of assists and kills together the past couple years. They led their high school team of Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont to a final four finish at the Iowa State Tournament last fall and qualified for the state basketball tournament as well. They have plenty of length, athleticism, and big game experience. It looks like these two will be joining with Adrenaline out of Cedar Rapids next volleyball season which will make for a dangerous combo with Louisville commit Chloe Meester Chloe Meester OH Mount Vernon | 2025 State #37 Nation IA and Arkansas commit Sydney Maue.
Wisconsin
Kati Berezowitz Kati Berezowitz 5'3" | DS/L Burlington | 2025 State WI – DS/Libero – MKE Sting
Committed to Vanderbilt
Coach Anders Nelson is heading up an entire new program from scratch at Vanderbilt and is starting with a familiar family for him. Kati Berezowitz Kati Berezowitz 5'3" | DS/L Burlington | 2025 State WI is a scrappy, gritty libero who preps for Burlington High School and was a key part of the success of MKE Sting 16 Gold this past club season where they had a top 20 finish at USAV 16 Open. Berezowitz won’t be the first from her family to play for Coach Nelson. Older sister, Maddie Berezowitz was a DS/libero on the Kentucky team who won a national title in the spring of 2021. Nelson was an assistant coach for Kentucky at the time. Vanderbilt will be an exciting program to keep tabs on as they start their inaugural season in the fall of 2025.
Nebraska
Natalie Wardlow Natalie Wardlow 6'5" | MB Lincoln Southeast | 2025 State #17 Nation NE – Middle Blocker – Nebraska ONE Synergy
Committed to Wisconsin
Natalie Wardlow Natalie Wardlow 6'5" | MB Lincoln Southeast | 2025 State #17 Nation NE is sticking to the Big Ten where she has given her verbal commitment to play at Wisconsin. What does the Lincoln, Nebraska native bring to the Badgers? Speed, athleticism, physicality, and a huge fire of intensity. Wardlow is on one of the top teams in the country with Nebraska ONE 16 Synergy where they finished in the final eight of 16 Open this summer. She is a force at the net where she can get from pin to pin to block and transition quickly to score points. In the Wisconsin offensive scheme they have always had middles who can terminate, especially off one foot. Wardlow fits into this mix very well and will be joined by some other top commits out of the Midwest in Madison Quest Madison Quest 6'3" | OH DSHA | 2025 State #13 Nation WI (Milwaukee Sting) and Addy Horner (1st Alliance).
Illinois
Keira O’Donnell – Middle Blocker/OPP – 1st Alliance
Committed to Southern Miss
I’ve watched this 1st Alliance team the past two years and have seen the firepower they have throughout their whole program. Abby Vander Wal Abby Vander Wal 6'3" | OH Timothy Christian | 2025 State #2 Nation IL , the Texas commit is currently playing for the USA U19 squad in the FIVB U19 World Championships while Addy Horner has committed to Wisconsin and libero Aniya Warren Aniya Warren 5'8" | DS/L Benet Academy | 2025 State #33 Nation IL heading to Indiana. O’Donnell has been one on my radar who has always been extremely efficient. I’ve seen her play in the middle as well as the right side. She always gets the job done and plays with a high IQ. She made her verbal within the past 48 hours, heading to Southern Miss, part of Conference USA.
Texas
Callie Krueger Callie Krueger 5'5" | DS/L Cedar Park | 2025 State #22 Nation TX – DS/Libero – Austin Skyline
Committed to Texas
Krueger was one of the first to commit from the Class of 2025. Did it on opening day, June 15. This Austin native will be staying home to play for the Longhorns. Krueger is one of the top liberos in Texas and among the top in the country. What is special about her game is her platform awareness and anticipation. She can slow the game down, playing very composed – she’s cool, calm, and collected. This commit started a trickle of big commits with Abby Vander Wal Abby Vander Wal 6'3" | OH Timothy Christian | 2025 State #2 Nation IL , one of the top outside hitters in the country to verbal as well as Krueger’s club teammate Addison Gaido Addison Gaido 6'5" | RS Georgetown | 2025 State #45 Nation TX , a lengthy lefty right side.
Florida
Kelly Kinney Kelly Kinney 6'2" | OH The King’s Academy | 2025 State #15 Nation FL – Outside Hitter – Tribe
Committed to Minnesota
This would be new head coach Keegan Cook’s first class at Minnesota that he has been able to contact out of the gates in 2025. He picked up one of the top six rotation outsides in the country in Kelly Kinney Kelly Kinney 6'2" | OH The King’s Academy | 2025 State #15 Nation FL out of Tribe Volleyball Club in South Florida. Tribe had a huge season where they were in the final four for 16 Open in Chicago in early July. Kinney has a ton of firepower where she hits a heavy ball from anywhere on the court. She is a big time scorer from the pin, but can do it out of the middle, right side, and backrow. With her dynamic point scoring ability, she can be used on multiple routes to get an open look to score. Minnesota also picked up some of the top homegrown Minnesota prospects in Carly Gilk Carly Gilk 6'2" | RS Champlin Park | 2025 State #27 Nation MN (MN Select) and McKenna Garr McKenna Garr 5'7" | DS/L Rush City | 2025 State #126 Nation MN (Northern Lights).
Colorado
Chloe Elarton – Setter – Colorado Juniors
Committed to Georgia
Quite the difference in sea level when it comes to Denver, Colorado area to Georgia. Elarton was one of the first Colorado 2025s to give a verbal when she said she was heading to the SEC on June 17 this summer. I was able to see Elarton play plenty of matches at the Colorado State Tournament last November where she was part of an extremely dominant team in Valor Christian in the South Denver Metro area. She has really strong physicality at the net, a high IQ, and is a pure gamer. Georgia has been a program on the rise and will be exciting to see Elarton continue to lead the Bulldogs.
Virginia
Caleigh Ponn Caleigh Ponn 5'6" | DS/L Hidden Valley | 2025 State #83 Nation VA – DS/Libero – NC Academy
Committed to Kansas State
I think it is so exciting when a new staff gets to bring in their first recruiting class where they have contacted them since day one. The new staff at Kansas State got a homerun commit in Caleigh Ponn Caleigh Ponn 5'6" | DS/L Hidden Valley | 2025 State #83 Nation VA who resides in Virginia and plays club for NC Academy. She has a chance to do some special things for the ‘Cats as a libero. What she brings to the court is a really athletic and even acrobatic style of play where she is able to keep a rally alive where you’d think for sure it was a point scored. Her overall athleticism is really special among liberos where she is a top outside hitter for her high school team. She’s an instant highlight and will be important for the future of K-State.
Ohio
Belle Groomes Belle Groomes 6'0" | S St. Joseph Academy | 2025 State #38 Nation OH – Setter/Right Side – AVC Cleveland
Committed to San Diego
Lightning in a bottle. Groomes is electric when she is on the court where she has a big left handed swing and is also one of the top setters in the Mideast. She is the Ohio Prep Dig top prospect out of Ohio in the Class of 2025. She will head West where she will be part of a rising San Diego program who made major waves in 2022 advancing to the final four. Her dynamic skill set will be really exciting at the next level where she can do a little bit of everything from scoring points, dishing, and defending!
California
Fallyn Blotzer Fallyn Blotzer 6'1" | OH Corona Santiago | 2025 State #16 Nation CA – Outside Hitter – Wave
Committed to Cincinnati
The top prospect out of the California Class of 2025 is going to be a Bearcat. Cincinnati has gotten two big pin prospects in Blotzer and Izzy Busingnani from Michigan Elite. With Cincy going to the Big 12, this changes the recruiting game a little bit for these prospects. Blotzer could be one who has an immediate impact for the Bearcats. I was able to see her play on the Wave 17 Juliana squad multiple times this season, first at Triple Crown and finishing at USAV 17 Open where they had a dominating tournament finishing 9-1 with their only loss coming in a challenge match to Metro. Blotzer is a long, athletic pin who is a pure scorer. She has a high contact point and can terminate at a variety of angles.