Sophomores Shaking Up Their Recruitment With Club Decisions

<a href="https://prepdig.com/subscribe/" id="https://prepdig.com/subscribe/">This article was shared with 150+ college coaches. Join PrepDig with 30% off using code: Coachable247</a>   Sophomore year is when club volleyball decisions start shaking up recruitment in a real way. It's the season where college coaches start paying closer attention, where film and evaluations carry more weight, and where the club environment an athlete competes in can directly shape how visible she becomes. So when a 2029 chooses to stay put or make a change this year, it isn't a small decision. It's a calculated one.   The athletes in this article all made that call for themselves. Some stayed with the programs that got them this far, betting on continuity and a coaching staff they already trust to carry them through their most important recruiting year. Others made a change, seeking out a higher level of competition, a new coaching philosophy, or an environment better suited to where they want their recruitment to go from here. Either way, these are athletes who understood the stakes of this particular season and made an intentional choice about how to spend it.      [player_tooltip player_id='770102' first='Jocelyn' last='Nading'] is leaving Pipeline and signing with Coast's 16-1 Luis team, and what stands out in how she talks about the move is what she's prioritizing. It isn't just about competition level, though she's clearly looking forward to that too. It's about the people she'll be alongside every day.   She describes her new teammates as sweet and driven both on and off the court, which is the kind of detail that tells coaches something beyond a stat line. Jocelyn is someone who reads team culture as part of the decision, not an afterthought to it. Paired with her excitement to be challenged and pushed at a higher level, her move to Coast reads as a bet on an environment that will demand more from her while still feeling like the right fit.   ~ Michelle Bamford @Coachable247     [player_tooltip player_id='779568' first='Jaselle' last='Tan']'s move to [program_tooltip program_id='876208' first='SC' last='Rockstar'] 16u is grounded in a mindset she leads with directly: believe in yourself, embrace the challenge, and never stop growing. That's not just a quote she offered, it's the lens she used to evaluate the decision itself.   She's not framing this as leaving something behind so much as building forward from it, choosing to layer a more demanding environment on top of a foundation she already trusts. Training under elite coaching and competing daily against talented teammates are both things she named specifically as ways to sharpen her game, and there's a clear self-awareness in how she connects those pieces: better coaching refines her skills, better teammates push her competitiveness, and together they move her closer to what she describes as her full potential.   ~ Michelle Bamford @Coachable247     [player_tooltip player_id='894293' first='Addison' last='Mulder']'s move to Coast comes with a specific position in mind. As a libero, she's looking for a new opportunity to keep developing that role, and the club's coaching staff is a big part of why she landed there. Both Coach Izze and Coach Jordyn played libero at the college level, and Addison is direct about what that means to her, it's a chance to learn from people who lived the exact position she's trying to grow into.   Beyond the technical development, she's thinking about the season in full. Building relationships with new teammates, competing at a new level, and pushing herself to become the best libero she can be are all part of the same picture for her, one where the position-specific coaching is the anchor and everything else builds outward from it.   ~ Michelle Bamford @Coachable247     [player_tooltip player_id='725912' first='Nalani' last='Catlin']'s move to Forza 1 comes with more reflection behind it than most. She frames the decision around a simple idea, that growth begins where comfort ends, and it's clear she sat with that before making the leap. Changing clubs, for her, wasn't about dissatisfaction with what came before. It was a deliberate choice to keep developing, made with full awareness that stepping into something new would feel a little uncertain before it felt right.   What stands out is how forward-looking she is about it. She's grateful for what her previous environment taught her, but she's already oriented toward what's ahead, the coaching, the competition, and the chance to train alongside athletes she considers exceptional. Her outlook reads less like someone chasing a change and more like someone trusting a process she's already thought through.   ~ Michelle Bamford @Coachable247     [player_tooltip player_id='848974' first='Olivia' last='Eastburn'] is staying with Encore, but not in the same place she left off. She's moving up to the 17-1s, Encore 17 Navy, and she's clear about why: a faster game against stronger competition is exactly the kind of pressure she wants on her development right now.   There's continuity built into the challenge too. Some of her new teammates are athletes she already competed alongside last season at AAUs in Orlando, so the jump up isn't into the unknown, it's into a harder version of chemistry she's already built. She's also specific about the coaching piece, pointing to a staff with D1 playing experience as something she's genuinely looking forward to learning from, not just a credential she's listing.   ~ Michelle Bamford @Coachable247     [player_tooltip player_id='935729' first='Bailey' last='Rae Fenderson'] is joining Sunshine Westside after less than two years of playing volleyball, a timeline that makes this move notable on its own. Rather than staying in a familiar setting while she's still early in her development, she went looking for a high-level performance program specifically because she wanted a structure built to accelerate her growth, and she points to Sunshine's track record of developing players as the reason it stood out.   She's specific about the leadership piece as well, naming Cari Klein and the coaching staff directly as part of what has her excited, alongside the new relationships she expects to build along the way. For an athlete this early in her volleyball journey, choosing a program known for its development track record over simply staying comfortable says something about how she thinks about her own trajectory.   "You have to work hard in the dark to shine in the light." - Kobe Bryant   ~ Michelle Bamford @Coachable247    <h2 class="wp-block-heading">If You Enjoyed This Article, Help Us Keep the Momentum Going</h2>   <h3 class="wp-block-heading">🔥 Athletes</h3>   Use this article to grow. Whether you're staying and playing up like Olivia, or stepping into a new environment like Jocelyn, Jaselle, Addison, Nalani, and Bailey Rae, this is the year your club decision speaks as loud as your film. Want to take the next step? Reach out to a featured athlete and introduce yourself. Build connections, not just stats.   📣 Club Coaches & Directors   Share this with your teams. If your athletes are highlighted, celebrate them, they took the time to speak up about their own decisions during the year that matters most. Post it, tag us, and help their stories reach the right eyes. Visibility matters.   🎯 College Coaches   Tag these athletes in University Athlete and evaluate them as potential fits for your program. A sophomore's club decision during her most important recruiting year tells you as much about her mindset as any highlight reel does. We continue tracking their development through Recruitable Credentials, the indicators coaches trust. Follow their progress and keep these prospects on your radar.   🙏 Parents & Supporters   Thank you for being the backbone of this movement. Your subscriptions, shares, and belief in your athletes make this work possible. Help a player get discovered, share this article and tag @PrepDigCA.   🚀 <a href="https://prepdig.com/my-account/subscriptions/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Upgrade to a PrepDig+ Subscription</a> Access exclusive rankings, deeper analysis, and the full Prospect Index to follow every athlete's journey.   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://prepdig.com/recruiting-resources/"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2026/07/image_3e909a.png?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-1003951"/></a></figure>   Thank you for making today's wins matter — one article, one player, one memory at a time.   ~ Michelle Bamford @Coachable247

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