Juniors Taking Ownership of Their Recruiting

<a href="https://prepdig.com/subscribe/" data-type="link" data-id="https://prepdig.com/subscribe/">Use code Coachable247 for 30% off. Subscribe to follow these upperclassmen as they take ownership of their recruiting journey.</a>   No one hands a recruiting profile to an athlete and tells her exactly what to do with it. The players who separate themselves are the ones who treat that blank page as an opportunity rather than an obstacle. They build their own film, write their own emails, and figure out what works through trial and error instead of waiting for someone else to make the first move. This group has taken full ownership of that process, and the habits they're building now are the same ones that translate directly to a college locker room.    Jaiya Mahil approaches her own exposure the way she approaches running an offense, with a plan and a willingness to work every angle at once. She's built out her recruiting profiles, attended showcases and tournaments, and kept her highlight film current, all while targeting programs at the D2, D3, and NAIA levels that fit her academically as well as athletically. That kind of layered outreach, rather than a single email blast and a wait, is exactly the self-management a college staff wants to see before an athlete even steps on campus. On the court, she runs a fast, balanced offense and prides herself on staying composed and organized under pressure, qualities that show up just as clearly in how she's handling her own recruitment. She knows the field is crowded and coaches don't always respond right away, so she's staying consistent and continuing to refine her profile rather than getting discouraged.   ~ Michelle Bamford @Coachable247     Julianna Baron doesn't wait on anyone else to manage her recruitment, and she's specific about that. She writes and personalizes every email herself, builds her own videos to send to programs, and has set up her recruiting communications independently, without needing reminders from her parents to stay on top of it. That kind of ownership at this stage is rare, and it's already producing results, with NAIA interest and D1 camp invitations coming in over the summer. On the court, she brings a reliability that shows up everywhere, from adjusting into multiple hitting spots when her team needs it to being the player who starts the energy when things get tough. Her current challenge is a familiar one even for athletes doing everything right: keeping coaches engaged once the first response comes in and turning early interest into an actual conversation. She's treating that as the next problem to solve rather than a wall to wait out.   ~ Michelle Bamford @Coachable247     Niara Kwaning is building her recruiting relationships during a school transfer, which means she's doing this work without a settled high school program behind her right now. That's a genuinely harder version of the same process everyone else in this group is navigating, and she's handling it by staying focused on what she can control: reaching out to coaches directly, sending updated film, and continuing to develop her game in the meantime. On the court she's the player her teammates know they can rely on, bringing energy and communication that keeps a back row organized regardless of the circumstances around her. She's targeting programs at the D1, D2, and D3 levels that fit her both athletically and academically, and she's approaching the exposure gap the same way she approaches a tough dig, by going after it rather than waiting for it to come to her.   ~ Michelle Bamford @Coachable247       Olivia Schiermeyer has spent six years building toward this stage of the process, and she's using every avenue available to get in front of programs. She's emailing across all three divisions, attending volleyball clinics specifically for exposure, and reaching out to coaches directly at tournaments to get them watching. On the court, she's grown into a communicator and a connector, someone who prioritizes strong relationships with both teammates and coaches as much as her individual game. Her current challenge is one that comes with being a strong libero prospect in a deep class: finding programs at her position that haven't already filled their roster spot. Rather than narrowing her search out of frustration, she's continuing to widen her outreach and stay patient for the right fit.   ~ Michelle Bamford @Coachable247     Riley Avina treats her own recruiting process the same way she treats scouting an opponent, with preparation that happens well before the moment matters. She studies film of her own play, breaking down highs and lows to sharpen her game, and she walks into every match with a plan already in place. That same discipline is showing up in her outreach now, as she works to send emails consistently and put herself in front of more coaches through both direct contact and social media. On the court, her competitiveness and composure under pressure are the traits she wants a coach who hasn't seen her play recently to know first. She's still building consistency in her outreach volume, and she's treating that the same way she treats a skill she's working to improve, as something to refine rep by rep rather than get right on the first try.   ~ Michelle Bamford @Coachable247       Sieun Choi has turned a small, regional club schedule into a recruiting advantage through sheer output. She builds her own highlight reels after every tournament and pushes them everywhere she can, posting to YouTube, emailing programs directly, and sharing across Instagram and X, rather than waiting for a bigger club platform to do that work for her. That initiative has already started to pay off, with D3 academically strong programs reaching out for transcripts and test scores ahead of phone calls. On the court, she plays libero with a fearless, attacking mentality on defense, going after every ball she can reach rather than waiting for it to come to her. Her biggest challenge right now is finding more advanced footage to showcase given her club's smaller tournament schedule, and she's working around that limitation the same way she plays defense, by staying aggressive about the solution instead of the problem.   ~ 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>   Take time to explore the player profiles featured in this article. Look at how they built their own outreach, how they handled the slow stretches without waiting for someone else to fix it, and what their evaluations say about the habits behind that consistency. If you're still figuring out your own process, this is a good moment to ask yourself who's actually driving it. Are you sending the emails, updating the film, and following up, or waiting for it to happen around you? Ownership is the differentiator here, not talent alone.   📣 Club Coaches & Directors Celebrate the athletes from your program who were featured, and use this list as a real conversation starter with your upperclassmen. Some of them have built systems that are already working. Others are still finding their footing. This is the stretch where your guidance matters most, especially in helping athletes turn effort into a repeatable process. Share this article and use it to reinforce what proactive recruiting actually looks like.   🎯 College Coaches These profiles represent upperclassmen athletes who are actively managing their own recruiting process, often without a large platform behind them. That kind of initiative tends to translate well to a college environment, where self-management matters as much as skill. Continue updating your evaluations, follow up on athletes you've had on your radar, and use PrepDig to identify additional prospects building this same kind of ownership as the season progresses.   🙏 Parents & Supporters Watching your athlete manage her own recruiting can be both exciting and hard to stay hands-off through. Thank you for supporting her in doing this herself. This is the time to help her stay organized and consistent rather than stepping in to do the work for her. Share this article, look through the featured profiles together, and use it as a conversation about the process she's building, not a measure of where she stands against anyone else.   🚀 <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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