Standouts from our Up Next Showcase

We had a very eventful 2 days at AAG with our 4 showcase! We will be having a lot of content coming out of the next week or so from that event but today let me dive into the future of AZ volleyball with some standouts from our youngest showcase, the Up Next event. We had so much talent on display, and I am excited to see what these girls will be doing in the next few years both in club and high school. We for sure have some future ballers out there who will be game changing as the years progress. Today I want to highlight 5 girls who really stood out with their game and ability throughout the showcase.   Here are the players who stood out from beginning to the end of the showcase:    Bailey caught my eyes as one of the best setters on the day not only with her hands and ball placement, but with her all around ability to play on the floor with her defense, serving, and offense. Bailey for starters has some of the best technique for someone so young and always seems to have her feet to the ball and gets good pushes to the pins for the hitters to get top level swings. She also moves very well on the floor which helps with her ability to get her hands on the ball each and every play. She has a very repeatable form that she does every time and deleivers high quality balls to all her hitters throughout the day.   Not only was she able to contribute with her setting, she was also a plus defender and server as well. She makes good contact with her serve, and kept acing girls or getting out of system balls during portions of those drills. During game play always seemed to make great digs and got a ton of great touches when she was hit at. She contributed with some timely dumps, and offensive scores as well, which really just demonstrates her court IQ because it always seemed to be at the right time. Overall she was one of the best players on the floor and probably the best setter as well. She has a very bright future in the sport!     A do everything outside hitter, Gianna is going to be a 6 rotational star in the coming years and a name to for sure know over the next year. She is already a full 6'1 and moves with the ability and grace of someone who is not 6'1. She is a very fluid with all her movement and has a great physical presence to her game with her ability to swing hard and aggressive as well. She also moves efficiently in serve receive and will in turn transition quickly into attack to score points. She has a very powerful arm swing and really can hit the full range of shots we look for in older girls, let alone a middle schooler. She isn't afraid of a block and can also go through it when the time calls for it. A offensive force to say the least at the showcase.   Gianna most importantly showed the ability to carry the offensive load while remaining engaged in all six rotations. She demonstrated solid platform control and consistently delivered accurate passes that allowed her setters to run the full offense when we were in game play. I didn't see too many passes that were on a high level which is just a testament to her overall ability. Long term, she is a high-ceiling pin hitter with the ability to impact the match as both an attacker and a passer and is going to be a big time name in Arizona over the next few years.     EASY pick for a standout, not because Samiyah is a legit 6'6 in middle school, but because she was such a dominate middle throughout the whole showcase. Beyond her physical abilities, she displayed excellent court awareness (which is rare in 11-13 year old), communicated well with teammates, and competed with confidence and determination. Most impressively her motor, work ethic, and refusal to take plays off made her one of the most impressive athletes at the showcase. All those traits coaches want that are physical she has already and that is going to make her a dang good volleyball player in the years to come. She has that IT factor coaches look for and really showed it at the showcase.   Skill wise, she was dominate on the block. She does a great job pressing over the net and taking away all angles and space that pins were trying to use to hit around her. Throughout game play she had so many blocks, block touches, and made life extremely difficult for all hitters she went up against. On offense she was also on a another level as she was scoring more times then not when she was set, she didn't have another girl that could slow her down most times but even when they were there she has the skill and range to take what was open to score points. A dominate force on offense and defense in this showcase, Samiyah really has a bright future in this sport and was a standout from this weekend.     Libero is always one of my favorite positions to watch at showcases because there are so many good ones at these events it is hard to stand out, but when they do standout it is because they are on another level and you have that with someone like Aubrey and her game play. Watching Aubrey play it is easy to see why she is so good, she has such great form and technique that allows her to contact the ball in a way that keeps her setters in the same spot each time. Even when hard driven balls were hit at her it didn't change her form as she made those harder plays look routine. She just moved so effortlessly on the floor and really seemed to get good touches every time she touched the ball and she was always in the right spot.   During game play her range and consistency allowed her to make difficult plays look routine, and she was a dependable presence in the backcourt throughout matches (both in serve receive and defense). She was loud and was communicating with what she saw to her hitters and other defenders and was a great teammate to the girls on the floor. She also did well with her serve and ability to contribute in other ways besides the serve receive and defense. She really has all the traits coaches look for in a libero with her passing, serving, and energy that she plays with. Overall she is a very polished young libero with advanced ball control, strong defensive instincts, and excellent movement skills for her age. She is a name to know and a standout from this event with her game play.     Alivia was so much fun to watch play, anytime she did anything whether offense, defense, serve receive, she played and did everything at such a high level you would forget she is only in middle school! Her game is amazing all the way around and she is very fast/athletic with the way she moves and play. Her arm swing was strong, and she attacked with purpose, making her a go-to offensive option throughout the event whether she was in drills or game play. It was always obvious even when my back was turned to her court when she was hitting, she just hits with such a pace that makes an impact each and every play.   Besides her ability to score she was also an excellent passer and defender who could probably be a libero if she didn't have that killer arm swing. She moves with ease and always seems to get her arms to the ball and in a way that passes perfectly to the target. She has a relentless motor and played at 110% each and every point, drill, and whenever I was watching. She is the type of kid that doesn't take plays off and plays hard and to a high level every play. Alivia is a future 6 rotation star in the making (probably already is) and is for sure a standout from this showcase and someone you should get to know in the years to come!    <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   The 2026 Summer Showcases were an incredible way to wrap up the club season, and we couldn't be more excited about the talent we saw on display. Thank you to every athlete, coach, and family who helped make these events such a success. The future of Arizona volleyball is incredibly bright, and we're grateful to have had the opportunity to watch so many players compete.   This is just the beginning. As we shift our focus to the high school season, be sure to follow @PrepDigArizona on Instagram and subscribe so you never miss rankings updates, player spotlights, showcase announcements, or our latest coverage from around the state. We can't wait to see you back in the gym soon!

We had a very eventful 2 days at AAG with our 4 showcase! We will be having a lot of content coming out of the next week or so from that event but today let me dive into the future of AZ volleyball with some standouts from our youngest showcase, the Up Next event. We had so much talent on display, and I am excited to see what these girls will be doing in the next few years both in club and high school. We for sure have some future ballers out there who will be game changing as the years progress. Today I want to highlight 5 girls who really stood out with their game and ability throughout the showcase.