Five 2028 Recently Ranked Middles to See

The 6'0 Smith is rangy in her reach and contact point, which has proven to be a big asset in her game on both sides of the ball. She landed among the top prospects in this initial rankings phase for the 2028 class, including coming in as one of the top middles following the recent high school season where her increased aggressiveness was noticeable. She has a good relationship with her setter offensively with range in her scoring ability in front and behind, while also swinging for power or finesse. Set to compete again for [program_tooltip program_id='431827' first='Elevation' last='']'s top 15U team over the next several months, Smith has shown the ability to make a big impact with her arm with opportunity to command the ball as a primary threat offensively.     Basham has one of the more physical arms among middles in this class at this point. She opens her shoulders well and is not afraid to swing for big power and impact. Her tools include good variation in what she can do offensively to score around her setter though quick options. She averaged 2.0 k/s on a .346 efficiency for Newark Catholic as the Green Wave finished 20-5 overall. Defensively, she provided 1.7 b/m. Her ceiling is high and it will be fun to watch her continued development as she competes for Mintonette's top 15U team this coming club season.     We can expect good things from Schoonover as her prep career moves forward given her current tools and the future gains she will continue to make competing for Mintonette, one of the premier clubs nationally. The Buckeye Valley high school product can bring energy and fire to the floor form the middle phase. She understands how to develop good space around her setter and give space off the net to be able to use her contact and torque at the end of her approach pattern to her advantage. She is an aggressive attacker and is showing increased control and range to be able to move the ball around with good purpose.     Ellis had a solid first-year campaign with Sycamore as she earned 179 total kills for a 2.7 k/s average. She is an athletic and active middle at 5'11 with room to grow in her movement and and spacing in transition that will increase her efficiency and make her even more dangerous on the offensive side. She swings with a high elbow, which can maintain her contact point that can be tough to slow down when she is on time in the air. She had over 50 total blocks for a 2.3 b/m average, displaying good quickness off the floor and fast hand penetration that can put good pressuring on opposing hitters. She will once again be with [program_tooltip program_id='431827' first='Elevation' last='']'s top 15U team this coming club season.     The 6'1 Williams (*pictured) was part of a corps of young prospects for Milford that led the Eagles to a respectable fourth place finish in the ECC given their youth in key offensive positions. She is continuing to develop her versatility with her best output coming from the middle phase although her length is an asset when swinging through a higher tempo on either pin. She averaged 2.0 k/s on a .298 efficiency to go along with 2.1 b/m to contribute a balanced stat line on both sides of the ball. She will compete with [program_tooltip program_id='430852' first='Tri-State' last='Elite']'s top 15U team among a solid collection of athletes and is expected to be a primary threat around the setter.