Top 250 Expo Iowa: Junior and Senior Outside Hitters

<p>Every hitter at the Top 250 Expo in Iowa was amazing. There are differences in style and some particular skills, but these junior and senior outside hitters were all primed to perform this past weekend. Let's dig in and do my favorite thing, talk about the particular skills that set each of these individual hitters apart from the crowd.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='261061' first='D'Niaya' last='Settles']</h2>   <figure class="wp-block-image alignleft size-thumbnail is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2023/12/DNiaya-Settles-e1702429717957.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1" alt="" class="wp-image-489196" style="width:173px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">[player_tooltip player_id='261061' first='D'Niaya' last='Settles'], an outside hitter from Ames High School's senior class.</figcaption></figure>   <p>Settles is a 5'10" outside hitter from Ames High School's senior class. I cannot believe Settles is not committed to playing at the next level yet, if that is the case. She is a high-jumping ball of energy and a power hitter. She had the top number of kills during her senior high school season for her team so she is a leader and has been for a while. She is a great blocker and has a great vertical. She is impressive all around the court with an amazing platform and the ability to sense where her opponents are trying to make a play next. She is a monster server, getting several aces during the expo. She is a very valuable athlete on the court.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='215724' first='Siri' last='Beecher']</h2>   <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-thumbnail is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2023/12/368-Siri-Beecher.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1" alt="" class="wp-image-489120" style="width:173px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">[player_tooltip player_id='215724' first='Siri' last='Beecher'], an outside hitter from Dowling Catholic High School, class of 2025.</figcaption></figure>   <p>Beecher is a 5'9" outside hitter for Dowling Catholic High School's junior class. Beecher is a powerful jumper and hits very well. She has a great approach and a really fast swing. She had tied for second place for kills on her high school team's season this fall. That is quite impressive considering she was on the Class 5A state championship runner-up this year. She has a great platform, impressive court awareness, and a never-give-up attitude. She chases and gets the loose ball most of the time. She is very athletic, has a great vertical, and blocks like a brick wall. Impressive athlete!</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Ady Hermanson</h2>   <figure class="wp-block-image alignleft size-thumbnail is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2023/12/Ady-Hermanson.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1" alt="" class="wp-image-489189" style="width:176px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Ady Hermanson, outside hitter for Kennedy High School, class of 2025.</figcaption></figure>   <p>Hermanson is a 5'9" junior outside hitter for Kennedy High School in Cedar Rapids. Hermanson should be a 6-rotation player if she is not being used that way already. She had as many kills as she had impressive digs. I enjoyed watching her lay out for one ball and pancake it up to the setter as if it was no big deal. Someone should tell her that does not happen every day. She has a wonderful platform and some of the best-received balls I have ever seen. She is really smart about what is going on in her opponent's court so knows where to hit to successfully get a kill. She has power and accuracy but her true worth is enhanced by her ability to play such good defense. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='215424' first='Sydney' last='Light']</h2>   <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-thumbnail is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2023/12/Light.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1" alt="" class="wp-image-490161" style="width:205px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">[player_tooltip player_id='215424' first='Sydney' last='Light'], outside hitter from Carlisle High School, class of 2025.</figcaption></figure>   <p>Light is a 6'1" junior outside hitter from Carlisle High School. Light had the 2nd highest kills, the second-highest hitting efficiency, the third-highest digs, and third-highest aces during her high school season this past fall. This athlete can do it all. At the expo, I noticed her for her long reach and great hitting power. She is very accurate when she does strike so she gets a high number of kills off of her attempts. She has a great platform as well and could play her own back row during a set. She is quite an impressive athlete and I cannot wait to see more of her during her senior year. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='490008' first='Kiara' last='Luscombe']</h2>   <p>Luscombe is a 5'8" outside hitter from the junior class at Ridgeview High School. Luscombe is super quick and jumps really high. She has a great platform and the ability to see where an opponent is going to hit. She has great speed to get under a ball and got it to the setter incredibly well. She was lethal hitting because she was dead on in front of a defensive player, she tooled off the block or was just too fast for the defenders to see coming. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='215434' first='Emmy' last='McComas']</h2>   <figure class="wp-block-image alignleft size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2023/10/137A4676-crop-1639x1076-1702429294.jpg?w=800" alt="" class="wp-image-490243" style="width:250px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Iowa City High Junior OH [player_tooltip player_id='215434' first='Emmy' last='McComas']. (Rob Howe/PD) </figcaption></figure>   <p>McComas is a 6' junior outside hitter from Iowa City High School. McComas is strong and powerful. She can blast through the block in front of her or tip and roll. She is always moving and can pretty much do whatever she wants to at the net. She has a great vertical and a lot of speed. I watched her break through at least 5 really good blocks in about a half-hour stretch at the expo. She is a power-hitter and is intimidating at the net. She can also dig, serve, set, and block with the best of them. Great athlete!</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='489415' first='Haley' last='Nissen']</h2>   <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-thumbnail is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2023/12/Nissen.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1" alt="" class="wp-image-490162" style="width:240px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">[player_tooltip player_id='489415' first='Haley' last='Nissen'], OH from Estherville Lincoln Central, class of 2025.</figcaption></figure>   <p>Nissen is a 6'2" junior outside hitter from Estherville Lincoln Central High School. Nissen is a beast! She hit so hard that it made me cringe as the other team tried to defend it. She is really fast, has a great vertical, and is really strong. She can hit it through any block put in front of her and did it several times at the expo. She was great defensively as well. She was one of the best hitters I saw that day. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='204533' first='Kamryn' last='Scheib']</h2>   <figure class="wp-block-image alignleft size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2023/12/379-Kamryn-Scheib-crop-1910x1254-1702431495.jpg?w=800" alt="" class="wp-image-490255" style="width:369px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">[player_tooltip player_id='204533' first='Kamryn' last='Scheib'], OH from Ankeny High School, class of 2025.</figcaption></figure>   <p>Scheib is a 5'11" outside hitter from Ankeny High School's junior class. Scheib had my attention all morning watching the Top 250 expo in Iowa. She looks so much bigger on the court and takes up the room visually as well as physically. She is impressive. She was one of the most aggressive players of the day and put her all out on the court. She can receive, great platform, serve, aces abound, set, many times she set other hitters when balls were not falling her team's way, she can hit, hard and powerful, well-placed missiles, and she can block too. This athlete looks like she can do it all and I found her quite impressive with a great attitude as well. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='490018' first='Selia' last='Stein']</h2>   <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-thumbnail is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2023/05/137A8081.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1" alt="" class="wp-image-392214" style="width:226px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">16U CR Surge [player_tooltip player_id='490018' first='Selia' last='Stein']. (Rob Howe/PrepDig.com) </figcaption></figure>   <p>Stein is a 6'1" junior outside hitter from George Washington Cedar Rapids High School. Over the block, through the block, Stein did it all at the expo. She was great defensively as well. She has a great platform and great accuracy with the setter. She has a lethal swing and seemed so calm doing it all. She is accomplished as a blocker as well. I looked her up and she had the highest blocks on her high school squad this past fall. She is a very impressive athlete.</p>

Every hitter at the Top 250 Expo in Iowa was amazing. There are differences in style and some particular skills, but these junior and senior outside hitters were all primed to perform this past weekend. Let's dig in and do my favorite thing, talk about the particular skills that set each of these individual hitters apart from the crowd.