Houston I Top 250 Expo – DZ’s Top Performers Vol 2

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We were very excited to see all of the players who had signed up for our Top 250 Expo in Houston Session 1 a few weeks ago.&nbsp; We had some amazing players from all over the state sign up to show their skills.&nbsp; Many players stood out to our court coaches and scouts throughout the entire expo for a variety of reasons.&nbsp; Some players stood out for their dynamic physical skills and some stood out for intangibles like leadership, effort and attitude.&nbsp; Let's meet a few of the players who earned the honor of Top Performer at the Expo.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='396771' first='Ava' last='Gibbs'] [2026] 5-7 Setter (HS: The Woodlands/Club: [program_tooltip program_id='462263' first='TAV' last='Houston']/Verbal: Uncommitted)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"right","id":487057,"width":"138px","height":"auto","sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2023/12/IMG_9123.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-487057" style="width:138px;height:auto" /></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ava is currently an unranked prospect in the 2026 Class according to our Prep Dig Texas State Rankings, but is on our official watch list.  She plays for The Woodlands High School and also club for the [program_tooltip program_id='462263' first='TAV' last='Houston'] volleyball program.  Miss Gibbs is a true show-stopper in the back row.  I was super excited to see her in action and she did not disappoint with her play.  When I watched her film prior to the session, I noticed that she always took a perfect hop to the direction of the flight of the ball with both feet before she lunged out with her inside foot.  This really excited me because it is a skill that is key to high-level liberos at the next level.  I wish younger players and coaches would focus on this more as it helps with creating greater range to the ball and keeps your base balanced.  I knew that when I saw this in her play after pausing and replaying film that she is extremely coachable.  In person at the Expo, she showed us that it is part of who she is as a player.  Her platform work while creating angles and overall pursuit of the ball were top notch.  After talking with court coaches and other scouts about all of this that stood out including her footwork and posture, it was a no brainer that she was one of the top liberos in the entire gym.  I am going to keep my eye on her this club season and you should also as she has a very high ceiling.  Please help us congratulate her on earning the Top Performer award for this Expo. <strong><a href="https://www.prepdig.com/player/alyssa-manitzas/"></a></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='254150' first='Emmy' last='Nicholas']&nbsp;[2026] 5-7 Libero (HS: Jordan/Club: [program_tooltip program_id='431166' first='Houston' last='Juniors']/Verbal: Uncommitted)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"right","id":257251,"width":"137px","height":"auto","sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2022/12/22-Emmy-Nicholas.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-257251" style="width:137px;height:auto" /></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Emmy is an unranked prospect in the 2026 Class according to our Prep Dig Texas State Rankings.&nbsp; She plays at Jordan High School and also plays for the [program_tooltip program_id='431166' first='Houston' last='Juniors'] volleyball club program. &nbsp;Miss Nicholas is a stellar libero who shows fantastic balanced footwork before, during, and after contact of the ball.&nbsp; What I truly loved about her play is how well she changed direction for a read or a deflection off of blockers hands.&nbsp; The processing speed that it takes to decide and then the fast-twitch muscles that it takes to actually perform the change of direction is very difficult to accomplish, but Emmy makes it look easy.&nbsp; During the positional drills, Emmy completed run-throughs so easily and I wanted to see if it would transfer to the scrimmage drills and it did.&nbsp; There were times where it looked as if the play would be dead, but Emmy tracked the ball down and kept it in play.&nbsp; Her grit and determination to keep the ball off of the floor was the main reason why she won this award.&nbsp; Please help us congratulate her on earning a Top Performer award.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='486926' first='Amelie' last='Cross'] [2026] 5-8 Setter (HS: Fulshear/Club: Katy United/Verbal: Uncommitted)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Amelie is currently an unranked prospect in the 2026 Class according to our Prep Dig Texas State Rankings.&nbsp; She plays at Fulshear High School and also for the Katy United club program.&nbsp; Miss Cross showed some solid setting skills at the Expo and her court coaches were very impressed with her leadership.&nbsp; Although it is usually very tough to rally players and keep them on the same page when you have not played with them a lot, Amelie earned a lot of respect from coaches and players with the way she handled herself.&nbsp; As a setter, I liked the way she moved the ball around to all of her hitters and really tried to spread the ball around to create mismatches.&nbsp; She was very accurate with her location and adjusted well with her footwork to errant passes that came her way.&nbsp; We are happy to have seen her in person and even more happy to award her this honor due to her play.&nbsp; Please help us congratulate her on earning a Top Performer award from our showcase.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There are many more amazing players that will be written about.&nbsp; Stay tuned for more articles on your favorite athletes.&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 -->