2026 Liberos That Shined at the USAV GJNC Session I Showcase

The first session of the USAV GJNC Showcase in Las Vegas, NV featured exceptional players from across the country. Many of these athletes will also compete at Nationals throughout the week, bringing top-tier talent to the event. The highlight, however, was discovering standout players who won't be playing at Nationals but proved themselves just as competitive.    For this event, I focused on the liberos and defensive specialists and was impressed by many players. However, a few athletes from the class of 2026 stood out among their peers and demonstrated elite skills in tough drills or matches. Here are the top liberos we selected from the showcase.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Saylah Childers</h2>   DS/L | 5'3” | School – The Villages; Club – Ocala Power   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/07/IMG_1318.jpeg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-560384"/></figure>   Saylah is very impressive on defense and serve receive. She has the dog mentality coaches look for in liberos. Balls others may deem impossible to get to, she made a play and got it up by any means. Childers maintains a strong platform when passing, enabling her to direct more balls accurately to the target. On short serves or tips, Childers manages to read it early and get there sooner. I was very impressed with this player and will be following the remainder of her career.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='482033' first='Mckenna' last='Giles']</h2>   DS/L | 5'6” | School – Corona Centennial; Club – Pipeline   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/07/IMG_1322.jpeg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-560920"/></figure>    McKenna displayed several high-level skills in the short time I caught her in action. She was great at digging tough balls during drills and passing to target on serve recieve. I was very impressed with her out of system setting, which was consistently spot on for hitters. Giles did a great job handling short serves and has mastered scooping the ball on tough digs. I was so impressed with her game and how she played throughout the event.    <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='569620' first='Lilly' last='Guinane']</h2>   DS/L | 5'5” | School – Tesoro; Club – A4 - Cassie   Lilly really impressed me with her passing form. Nearly all of the passes and digs I got a chance to see were dimes and consistently got to the target.  She is a big time hustler and her lateral movement is legit, helping her get to a lot of tough balls faster then some of her peers. She had a great attitude and positive energy throughout the event. Happy to have had the opportunity to see Lilly in action for the first time.    <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Isard Bernades</h2>   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/07/IMG_1323.jpeg?w=990" alt="" class="wp-image-560943"/></figure>   DS/L | 5'8” | School – Glenelg; Club – MDJRS   Isard was a very impressive libero/ds. She did a great showcasing her skills by digging tough balls and being immediately ready for the next play. What impressed me most was her positive energy and cheering on the other players on her court. Coaches absolutely love seeing this! She calls the ball loud and got a lot of her passes to to the target, even while on run. She was a great watch and I can tell she is also a great teammate.    <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='569617' first='Kendall' last='Serrano']</h2>   DS/L | 5'1” | School – St. Francis; Club – Rage Westside 16 Kimmy   Kendall hustled her butt off the entire event. She caught my eye early in drills were she called balls super loud and sprinted to get tougher balls. She excelled in serve receive drills and during 6-on-6, she got to put her defensive skills to use. She dug up a lot of tough balls and kept the ball in play often. She was a solid libero and cheered on her teammates often. I will continue following her career for the next two years.    Honorable Mention   The following players caught my eye, but I did not get a chance to see them long enough for a full analysis. However, they absolutely deserve to be mentioned and worked really hard during the showcase.   Sophie Mentzer - good passer, great server   Aviana Trees - good passer, great server   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>   . If there is a player you would like to add to PrepDig Nevada's radar, you can:   <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Follow/tag us on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/prepdignv?igsh=MWNqc3lrc2huZzZxcA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr">@prepdignv</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/lasvegasvbanalyst?igsh=dXdjMHVnZTc0d3h6&utm_source=qr">@lasvegasvbanalyst</a></li> </ul>   <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Claim your FREE PrepDig player profile <a href="https://prepdig.com/prospect-index/">here</a>. </li> </ul>   <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Contact me via email me at: <a href="mailto:lasvegasvbanalyst@gmail.com">lasvegasvbanalyst@gmail.com</a> </li> </ul>   <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Attend our Freshman or Stock Up Showcases in August. <a href="https://prepdig.com/events/?type=Showcase&state=Nevada&start_date=">Learn more here</a>and use my code: Bryantdig2024 to save $$</li> </ul>

The first session of the USAV GJNC Showcase in Las Vegas, NV featured exceptional players from across the country. Many of these athletes will also compete at Nationals throughout the week, bringing top-tier talent to the event. The highlight, however, was discovering standout players who won't be playing at Nationals but proved themselves just as competitive.