Playing Up: Pin Attacking Studs On Older Teams

Want a subscription to PrepDig? Use code Kyp30 for 30% off of your annual subscription! And don't forget to follow @KypPDIN on X for all of your Indiana high school and club volleyball news!   The depth and breadth of talent in Indiana knows no bounds. We're spending the next couple of articles talking about the best athletes that are playing up an age group from their respective graduating classes, starting with the pin attackers. Here are five from around the state that should be seeing a ton more recruiting attention knowing that their level of play is ahead of the curve.    Easily one of the heaviest hitting pin attackers in the class of ‘29, Gabby is the right side for the top 16s team in the state of Indiana. Already accustomed to high-level open play last season and this season, Gabby turned into the primary attacker for the 4A top ten Trojans by the end of the fall of ‘25. The heft with which she attacks, added to her overall athletic acuity, makes her one of the best in this class, and is showing out against kids a full year older than she.     Lengthy and talented, Elle plays for the top 17s team in the state of Indiana as a three rotation outside hitter. Her size alone puts her in the Division 1 discussion, and her meteoric rise in the past 18 months of training has Power Four teams coming to her court regularly throughout this spring. She has dominated our showcases in the past two years, and is showing us how she's improved playing against some of the best open-level talent in the country this spring.     To be fair to the others that could have been mentioned in this article, you don't just play for the Samurai—-you have to be more than adequate to play at (1) an open-level 18s schedule, and (2) understand the collegiate-level of training from one of the best training coaches in the country. Paige is a hard-hitting and high-flying three-rotation pin attacker that can terminate from anywhere and is playing one of the toughest (if not THE toughest) schedules in Indiana.     From the smallest high school listed in this article, Jada is the spitfire six-rotation outside hitter every program needs in order to be elite. Miss Cripe, from a family of athletes, is already playing up on the 17 Gold squad at Boiler Juniors, and is more than capable of holding her own against bigger and older competition. Yes, her size might be a hindrance for the Power Four as an attacker. Yet every time I see Jada play, she's competing and WINNING against the very same Power Four recruits that get more publicity simply because they're bigger.     Taylor is a lefty banger that has all of the tools and the talent to understand how to score points against bigger and older competition. As evidenced by her coming-out party at Hoosier Regionals, Taylor can do everything bigger and older right sides can do, all while looking like she absolutely belongs with the big girls. I look forward to how the remainder of her club season unfolds, as her high school squad is a dark-horse favorite to compete for a state title in the fall of ‘26.

Want a subscription to PrepDig? Use code Kyp30 for 30% off of your annual subscription! And don't forget to follow @KypPDIN on X for all of your Indiana high school and club volleyball news!