Houston II 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 II.&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; I was scouting from the live stream on BallerTV and also have been watching the replay over and over to evaluate.&nbsp; There were some awesome players.&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='438347' first='Kenli' last='Irwin'] [2027] 5-10 Middle (HS: Barbers Hill/Club: Xcel/Verbal: Uncommitted)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kenli is currently an unranked prospect in the 2027 Class according to our Prep Dig Texas State Rankings, but that is only because I have not released them yet. &nbsp;She plays for Barbers Hill High School and also club for the Xcel volleyball program. &nbsp;Miss Irwin attended our first ever Freshman showcase this summer and came back fro this December Expo to turn some heads.&nbsp; She was a stellar performer both times and I saw that she has gotten even better in just a short amount of time during the high school season.&nbsp; What stood out to me was the fact that she is ready and willing to run quick tempo routes with hard driven footwork toward her setter.&nbsp; This will keep her fast and on time to hit the ball right out of the setter's hands. &nbsp;I loved also how she stepped up with confidence during each rally of the scrimmage drills.&nbsp; It seemed as though she was not afraid of competition and that is exactly what you want in a middle blocker.&nbsp; Please help us congratulate her on earning the Top Performer award for this showcase.&nbsp;<strong><a href="https://www.prepdig.com/player/alyssa-manitzas/"></a></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='486944' first='Kiana' last='Lanton']&nbsp;[2026] 5-8 Right Side/Outside (HS: Ray/Club: Corpus Christi Force/Verbal: Uncommitted)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kiana is an unranked prospect in the 2026 Class according to our Prep Dig Texas State Rankings, but turned my head a few times when I watched her on the live stream during the Expo.&nbsp; She plays at Ray High School and also plays for the Corpus Christi Fore volleyball club program. &nbsp;Miss Lanton rose up off of the ground with relative ease and stayed in the air for a long time when attacking and blocking.&nbsp; This hang time made her a very difficult opponent to block as most times the blockers were on the way down when Kiana was contacting the ball.&nbsp; Along with that great vertical of hers, she was deadly because she contacts the ball at such a high reach.&nbsp; This will keep her scoring very efficiently during her volleyball career.&nbsp; As a blocker, I loved how from my vantage point on the screen, she was penetrating the net to seal it away from opposing attackers.&nbsp; That kind of press on the net is key to great blocking.&nbsp; Please help us congratulate her on earning a Top Performer award.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='254251' first='Kinsley' last='Hooper'] [2026] 5-3 Libero (HS: Cy Ranch/Club: MoCo Mavs/Verbal: Uncommitted)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kins is currently an unranked prospect in the 2026 Class according to our Prep Dig Texas State Rankings.&nbsp; She plays at Cy Ranch High School and also for the newly formed MoCo Mavs club program.&nbsp; Miss hooper was super fast all over the back row chasing down errant passes and deflections to keep the ball alive.&nbsp; I loved her relentless pursuit of the ball in the positional drills as she had no regard for her body when it came time to getting on the floor.&nbsp; Her platform work was great during the serve receive drills a she created solid angles which led to the ball reaching the setter target.&nbsp; During scrimmage play, she was definitely a difference maker in keeping her squad in system and able to run solid offense over and over.&nbsp; Keep your eye on her because she looked like a libero on the rise.&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 -->