Live Eye - 15s Making An Early Impact

We are nearing the halfway point of the club season. I have plenty of player notes from tournaments I have attended that have hosted some of the top teams in the country. However, there is great volleyball being played everywhere. A friendly reminder, there could be college coaches watching a 15s court and the purpose is to tag those athletes and get them on the radar. They can send them camp information, but there are no recruiting conversations to be had for athletes at the 15s level (Class of 2025) until after June 15 after their sophomore year. Here are some 15s to have tagged that I’ve noted during the first two months of the club season. <img class="size-medium wp-image-158194 aligncenter" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2021/09/DSC09510-e1632328384460.jpg" alt="" width="288" height="300" /> Eva Finnessy - MKE Sting 15 Black At the Badger Region Qualifier, I was able to see Eva Finnessy completely take over a match for her Sting 15 Black team. Her skill set is one that is going to be very appealing at the next level (and again, she’s 15 and will continue to improve). She’s a six rotation right side who can do everything, she is dominant in the front line with a physical attack and is a really tough blocking matchup for the opposing outside hitter. She plays for a high powered high school program in the Milwaukee area in Sussex Hamilton and receives high level training all year round. She is for real. <img class="wp-image-185597 aligncenter" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/03/DSC04045.jpg" alt="" width="474" height="316" /> Abby Vander Wal - 1st Alliance 15 Gold Vander Wal might be the top prospect in the Class of 2025 and the best player in the 15s age group this year. She not only possesses the physical fundamentals of the game, but her intangibles are pretty impressive. She is the prototypical outside hitter at 6’1-6’2 long, a really solid passer, can serve receive, and can attack from the front and backrow. She’s just fun to watch as well as she really celebrates her teammates and its easy to see how much she loves the game and being a part of her team. 1st Alliance 15 Gold has established themselves as the frontrunner in the 15s age group and will be the ones to chase this season.   Makenna Lilly - Kokoro 15-1 Kokoro is out of the St. Paul, MN area and will pull athletes across the metro as well as Western Wisconsin. One athlete who is really exciting to watch is Makenna Lilly. She is in her first year of playing for a national team and can just fly. She is finding a knack to score points in a variety of ways and her athleticism shows each time she leap, just a fun athlete to watch. With continued training and an enhanced backrow presence she could be real scary when she starts scoring points in all rotations. <img class=" wp-image-170308 aligncenter" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2021/12/16-Taylor-Cripe-300x203.jpg" alt="" width="421" height="285" /> Taylor Cripe - Boiler Juniors 15-1 Seeing athletes who continually go for a big swing is extremely exciting. This is evidence of having a killer instinct, but also being part of a program who preaches aggressiveness and also training their athletes to continually go for it. Cripe brings an exciting style to a really talented Boiler Juniors 15 Gold squad who has plenty of balance. I saw Cripe at our Indiana Top 250 Showcase, Central Zone, and Triple Crown where she continues to improve each time she steps on the court. She is definitely a scoring threat every time she approaches.   Campbell Flynn - Legacy 15-1 Adidas Flynn is going to be scary good. At 6’2 and very smooth, she has the ability to be a high level recruit with her skill set and physical attributes. She can get her hands to the ball and releases high and neutral. This is a really physical Legacy squad who will play in some big time matches this season and Flynn will be a clear leader for this squad. She is also a physical player at the net where she can score points on her own and is a major presence with her block.   <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Margin of error is incredibly small in these power pools to advance to gold tomorrow. More names to know: 15 Open Billie Reiter - <a href="https://x.com/stingvb1988?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@stingvb1988</a> Ava Tindall - <a href="https://x.com/LBpineapple?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LBpineapple</a> Addison Tindall - <a href="https://x.com/LBpineapple?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LBpineapple</a> Logan Bell - <a href="https://x.com/circlecityvbc?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@circlecityvbc</a> <a href="https://x.com/hashtag/centralzone?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#centralzone</a> — Chris Fitzgerald (@PrepDigChris) <a href="https://x.com/PrepDigChris/status/1487575952439881729?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 29, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Addison Tindall - Team Pineapple 15 Black The foundation is there. Tindall is a really physical athlete who plays high above the net from the pin. She has the ability to score multiple ways and can put a ton of pace on the ball. I saw her live at Central Zone and instantly put a star next to her name in my notes because she has some abilities that few have. As she continues to train with a really strong coaching staff, she is going to blossom. I am anticipating getting the chance to watch her at MEQ, but she will be one where she could be better each time she steps on the court. <img class="size-medium wp-image-185598 aligncenter" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/03/Screen-Shot-2022-03-14-at-12.50.44-PM-300x296.png" alt="" width="300" height="296" /> Kate Vanderhill - ImpactDT 15s Vanderhill plays for Impact Dynamic Training out of the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Her team came to the Prep Dig Chi-Town Classic at the beginning of February and her athleticism and physicality was something to watch. She is the type of athlete you are going to pick on your team no matter what the sport is. She’s still raw with her training, but she goes hard, has a high motor and makes an impact on the court. She played out of the middle as a lefty and was highly effective. I’ll be excited to see her take the court again because I know her impact (pun intended) will be immediate. <img class=" wp-image-166601 aligncenter" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2021/11/171-Billie-Reiter.jpg" alt="" width="374" height="249" /> Billie Reiter - MKE Sting 15 Gold I’ve been fortunate enough to watch Reiter play for different teams between high school and club, and before I would label her a setter, I’d say she is a pure volleyball player. She could step in and play any position with such a dynamic skill set. Like many of these athletes, Reiter has intangibles that are tough to teach as well as measure. She plays with such confidence (and by no means cocky) where there is a comfort with her teammates when she has the ball. She makes the high IQ play and sets others up for success. What this squad is successful at that most 15s take all season to execute is being able to run the side effectively. She knows how to get the ball in the right spot at the right time to get her middles scoring at the right time. <img class="wp-image-185599 aligncenter" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/03/DSC03503.jpg" alt="" width="543" height="362" /> Isabelle Brown - Circle City 15 Purple Like most top tier Circle City and Indiana setters, Isabelle Brown is asserting herself into that category. She has such an athletic and physical style to her game where she really gets her middles involved. I am looking forward to seeing her and the Circle City 15 Purple squad take the court at MEQ where they will be in the hunt for an open bid early on. One of her go-to targets will be middle blocker Reese Dunkel who is a really active middle blocker who can score a lot of points. <img class=" wp-image-185596 aligncenter" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/03/DSC04021.jpg" alt="" width="429" height="286" /> Campbell Onell - FC Elite 15 Elite Onell is an athlete who can play out of the middle, but this club season I have seen her play primarily on the right side. With her experience at both positions she can put up a strong block and she is highly effective at attacking off one foot. FC Elite 15 Navy has a really scrappy team with two solid setters in Alexa Hernandez and Maddie Tripp where they can distribute to plenty of attackers. They will be competing in 15 Open at MEQ.