Five Pin Attackers I Like From The Class Of 2028

With their freshman seasons in the rearview and a HUGE club season coming up, it's probably more accurate to no longer call these kids "freshmen". Their experience and skill sets are starting to take hold, and their recruitment will ramp up in earnest between now and June. Here are five athletes from the class of '28 that I like that will be pin attackers at the next level.    Fast, elite and terminal, Blaine is an absolute athLETE when playing this sport we love. If she's not at ten feet in her attack touch yet, she's pretty close. Her arm swing is a whip, and can hit all of the angles. When I first saw her back in August, I was surprised to find out that she was "only" a freshman. Her maturity, coupled with her athleticism, will make her an elite recruit moving forward.     Elle is a big and long outside for Pineapple HP, playing up a year on their inaugural 16s squad. She more than dominated her fellow freshmen in August at our Stock Up Showcase, so it makes sense for her to play up a class in club ball. Long and lean, she'll see a ton of front row time this year, as it might take a year or two for the serve receive and floor defense to develop. No matter---you can't teach 6'2", and she'll be worth the watch this club season for a number of Power 4 programs.     A springy, six-rotation outside is what you get out of Jada. With her feet constantly active, she is regularly around the ball on floor defense and is a dynamic attacker at the net. From a whole family of athletes, Jada is yet another that makes up for her size with athleticism, speed and a high volleyball IQ. That last part makes sense---playing on any 1s team at Boiler Juniors requires a high volleyball IQ, which isn't in a lot of kids at this age.     A big and physical lefty from New Pal, Elena has all of the tools to be a three-rotation right side at the next level. She hits high and hard, knows how to hit angles and terminates from the right regularly. At the net on defense, she's tough to deal with, and blocks with length (press across) and width (taking up space laterally). I'd like to see a little more floor defense from her---she's played so much front row that the back row stuff might be underdeveloped. Hopefully, she can get that training from Academy this season to make her a complete player.     Easily the fastest on this list today, Katelyn is the only state champ among these five. A sprint champ on the track, Miss Peters is springy, and her arm swing is just as fast. Katelyn more than makes up for her lithe figure with explosiveness and a jump that has her near ten feet for her attack touch. High and hard is her attack, while controlled and calm is her platform and posture when passing. Her future dictates that she will become a primary-passing, six-rotation outside at the next level.

With their freshman seasons in the rearview and a HUGE club season coming up, it's probably more accurate to no longer call these kids "freshmen". Their experience and skill sets are starting to take hold, and their recruitment will ramp up in earnest between now and June. Here are five athletes from the class of '28 that I like that will be pin attackers at the next level.