2029 Middles to be Watched

There were five new middles added to the rankings and three middles who moved up in the rankings from the class of 2029. Not a lot of players like to play this position. When you find a good middle it is like finding gold. Below are middles poised to make an impact this high school season.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Middles Making Their Dubut in the Rankings</h2>    Her older sister [player_tooltip player_id='720348' first='Milena' last='Kibret'] was a key in the middle to lead the Spartans to the Class 6 state championship. She ranks number 34 in our class of 2027, committing to New York University.   While her older sister stands 6'3" Eldhana has some growing to do, standing 6'0". Eldhana does not appear on the West Springfield varsity roster this year. A veteran team, they have four seniors who can play middle. This means Eldhana has another year of Junior Varsity to gain experience.   For the class of 2029 she made the highest debut in the rankings. She also plays right side. Like her sister her blocking is more effective than her hitting, although Milena hit at a team high .405. It is possible Eldhana could see time on the varsity once the playoffs start. It all relies on her performance on junior varsity.     Walt Whitman has Isla making her debut in the rankings and [player_tooltip player_id='750047' first='Caroline' last='Conroy'] making a big rise for the class of 2029. That is a big luxury to have two qualify middles on the floor. Last year Walt Whitman reached the finals of the Regionals before losing to Churchill.   At 5'7" Isla is undersized for a middle. While a sophomore in high school she plays a year down on the Metro 14 team. She brings a good jump to the floor along with excellent timing. For Metro 14 she was not one of the main middles.   2026 rosters are not yet available for Whitman.     Emma played a strong middle for Williamsburg Volleyball Club finishing in third place in the ACPL tournament. She made a couple critical kills in their match against Coastal at the end of the set to allow Williamsburg to overcome a 13-20 deficit to win 27-25.   At the Maryland Grand Prix, Williamsburg won the championship. Emma was voted to the 15 All tournament team.   At 5'8" she is undersized for a middle. She appears on their varsity roster this year after not playing varsity last year as a frosh. Last year Jamestown reached the Class 4 Virginia state playoffs where they lost to Courtland in the first round.     Evie is one of many young talented players for Independence. Her game is still a bit raw but at 5'11" the height is there to play either middle or right side. That appears to be the strength for Independence this year.   At the East Coast championships Virginia Juniors surprised as the 16th seed to win the tournament. This from a team early in the season that did not win a match at the Chesapeake Regional Bid Championships.   While Prep Dig predicted Independence would win the Class 5 state championship, that was before I learned that Kiernan Rhoton was not playing high school this year. While Independence is young and talented winning a state championship becomes much tougher without veteran leadership.     Ellis is another player who stood out for her middle play at the ACPL. At 5'11" she brings more height to the position than [player_tooltip player_id='986883' first='Emma' last='Guaspari'] but her game is not as refined. As she gains more experience the potential exists to develop into a powerful middle. She has the long limbs to hit high over the block.   She did make the roster as a frosh for her high school Warhill stringing together 37 kills. Her 48 blocks were third on the team.   Warhill lost to Grafton in the semi-finals of the Virginia Class 4 Regionals last year. As she gains more experience the future looks bright.    <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Middles Rising in the Rankings</h2>    It just seems she keeps climbing no matter her current ranking. Last ranking she bumped up 14 to 7. This new ranking she jumps from 7 to 4 making her the highest ranked middle in the class of 2029. Only three ranks away from number one she is almost on the top floor.   When you stand 6'3 with quick athletic movements the game comes easy. The National Team Development Program (NTDP) has invited her to their camps to work with other future players with aspirations to play on the U.S. Olympic team.   Her approach jump reaches 10 feet. She played middle for the Metro Travel 15 team which reached the gold bracket this year in the Junior Nationals, losing in the first round to AJV Adidas to finish in fifth place.   Caroline plays for Walt Whitman, which reached the Regional finals last year before losing to Churchill in four. She will join [player_tooltip player_id='1006177' first='Isla' last='Takem'] to block middle, although finding rosters for Walt Whitman is a challenge. Her approach jump reaches 10 feet.   Caroline has actually played in a few national beach tournaments. Her last competition was in 2025 at the Summer National Qualifier where she finished in 29th place playing with [player_tooltip player_id='750056' first='Kiera' last='Jordan'].     Aniston is not new to the rankings. The last rankings she was number 11 but she dropped out when transferring her player file from Virginia to Maryland. This ranking she moves up to number 5, just behind her teammate at Metro Travel [player_tooltip player_id='750047' first='Caroline' last='Conroy']. She may not stand as tall as Caroline but she makes an impact with an approach jump that reaches 10'2".   Aniston not only plays for Metro 15 travel, but she also plays for Holy Cross one of the top teams in the WCAC. She made an immediate impact earning a spot as an honorable mention on the All Conference team. Last year she finished first on the team in blocking and fourth in kills with a hitting percentage of .313. That hitting percentage put her second to [player_tooltip player_id='622282' first='Emerson' last='Wolfe'] who made the WCAC first team.     Annika bumps up from 41 to 36 in the rankings. She stands an intimidating 6'2" with an approach jump that reaches 10 feet. She plays for [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] 15 which competed at the Open level in Junior Nationals. They finished a disappointing 23rd place, losing to Metro 15 in pool play to drop them to the Flight 1 Division.   Though no rosters are available yet for the Potomac School this year [player_tooltip player_id='893947' first='Annika' last='Warren'] shows her high school as The Potomac School. Last year they were one of the surprise teams in the ISL, just missing playing in the VISAA. Overall, they finished 10th in the voting. Only the top eight play in the VISAA state championship.

There were five new middles added to the rankings and three middles who moved up in the rankings from the class of 2029. Not a lot of players like to play this position. When you find a good middle it is like finding gold. Below are middles poised to make an impact this high school season.