5 More Prospects "Showed Me" Kansas City Day 3

Day 3 featured some major showdowns. There were more coaches than usual for a day 3 matchup, but they ended up with some finals matches like TAV 16 featuring Maya Ogbogu facing Metro 16 Travel starring Katie Mitchell. There was plenty to see. In the middle of all that, here were some players that jumped out as players to watch.    Rose plays on a deep team. This team reminds me a lot of a Richmond team I found last year that was absolutely loaded with prospects, but didn't get much press. Rose bore the pressure of getting pelted with high powered shots all day long, there were a few teams with major strength putting hard balls down, and she was up to the task. Good strength, great form, good platform, she was constantly there getting shots that looked like sure points back into the play. Passing was accurate and did a great job of setting the reply shots. If there are some schools out there looking for a '26 Lib, I don't know of many better out there.     Emily I've actually seen twice now in two years, last year I felt like she was their best player, but this year it was like a switch flipped and she was even better than last year. She's an all around 6 for a solid Carolina Select team, who plays solid defense and covers good ground, as well as being a solid hitter and helping carry the offense. She's got good size and speed, and the arm whip generates good velocity.     Camila is another standout Lib from down south. Her range was incredible, and she made quite a few pancakes in the game I watched. She kept her team in rounds they should have been knocked around in because teams just couldn't get the ball to hit the ground. Some people feel like Liberos are a dime a dozen, but you find me a good team that wins without one. Camila is a great example of that, she was easily their best player in this game, and one player had significant impact on the outcome of the game, she played fantastic.     I ran into Kendylle watching the USA semis and had to double take. I had been talking with people all weekend how I seemed to find all these "undersized" hitters all weekend that were fantastic. Most were in the 5'6-5'9 range and like her, had a fantastic vertical that allows her to get up and still get downward plane on the ball, which is important. She was playing middle in the game I watched, so I was fascinated to see what a 5'7 middle was going to bring. She got up on blocks and showed great strength stuffing back some hard hit balls solo, she also showed good hitting strength and got some balls down violently. She's another in the line of players where you can't always let height tell the tale. There's a full picture for every player, sometimes it's one that starts at 5'7 but ends touching 10'3 because of a fantastic vertical, or maybe they get a couple extra inches because they have long arms. You can't just immediately cross someone off a list until you see what they could do. I've seen a lot of D3 volleyball this year in person and a lot of D1 online, and I can tell you for sure she would be a force in D3, and could probably play somewhere in the low-mid major D1 market.     Here's another one someone could make a pretty penny on. Dayleen is a little bit raw still I think, but she's loaded with talent. She's got good size already, but gets up well enough to get the ball down at the 10. She made my list because she reminds me of local star Annika Daindridge a little bit, maybe from 2 years ago? She's got a TON of power, when she winds up, DS' cringe. I think with a tiny bit more refinement, mostly in the timing area, I think you could be looking at one of the major sleepers in the class of '27.    Bonus:    The more I've thought about this one, the more sure I was that she should get some accolades. Ella runs a fine game setting, multiple tempos, sets all 3 spots well, plays smart, very smooth hands, but for this weekend it was all about her serving. Multiple times this weekend she went on runs of 6-8 points, bringing her team back into games they were slipping out of. With plenty of movement on the float ball, smart placement, and a high serve %, she was a game changer out there this weekend.    That's a wrap for KC. Great hospitality, good venue, good food, it was a great time overall. I'll be back at this next weekend in Salt Lake City, where rumor has it, I'll be scouting the Prep Dig Showcase before the event as well. So go sign up.

Day 3 featured some major showdowns. There were more coaches than usual for a day 3 matchup, but they ended up with some finals matches like TAV 16 featuring Maya Ogbogu facing Metro 16 Travel starring Katie Mitchell. There was plenty to see. In the middle of all that, here were some players that jumped out as players to watch.