Class of 2021 Liberos Under The Radar

<p>The 2021 class has some serious stud liberos.  <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="33724" first="Samantha" last="Naber"]</strong> (Burlington – Sky High) was one of the first to make her verbal commit heading to Marquette in the Big East.  Next came <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="80716" first="Anna" last="Holland"] </strong>(Waukesha West – Milwaukee Sting) is going to Seton Hall (also in the Big East).  Who will be next?  With a big club season about to start, there are plenty of talented liberos who will make a huge impact for their club teams.  Here are some defensive players that have been operating under the radar.</p> <p><strong>Isabella Halcomb – 5'5 - Milwaukee Sting 16 Black – Catholic Memorial (36-13)</strong></p> <p>Catholic Memorial was not deep in high level defensive specialists like some other schools that had big high school campaigns.  After graduating Paiton Kujawa and [player_tooltip player_id="9359" first="Lauren" last="Mudlaff"] in 2018, the Crusaders looked to Halcomb to lead their defense.  She is currently ranked #33 in the Prep Dig Class of 2021 Rankings.    </p> [caption id="attachment_31791" align="alignright" width="300"] Grace Antifinger[/caption] <p><strong>Grace Antifinger – 5'5 – Catholic Central (39-7)</strong></p> <p>Central was one of the most dominant teams to watch this fall in the state tournament, and that started with their first contact by Antifinger.  She is gritty on defense and finds a way to get the ball up.  Antifinger is also a solid first contact out of serve-receive.  Central was scary good in 2018 with a pair of high flying and powerful pin hitters, but a libero like Antifinger raised their level that allowed them to compete with the top teams in the state.  She is currently ranked, but her stock is definitely rising!</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="80724" first="Abby" last="Gardner"] – 5'9 - Midwest Penguins – Mukwonago (32-10)</strong></p> <p>Gardner seriously raised Mukwonago's game in 2018.  She is a steady, dependable player who can step up and make big plays.  Gardner makes plays that cannot always be measured on a stat sheet, like strong coverage, protecting the corners, and being able to play any back row position.  The Indians will return plenty of ball control and will have a defense to reckon with in 2019.</p> <p><strong>Emily DeMaster – 5'2 – Oostburg (26-11)</strong></p> <p>DeMaster is a natural athlete that is a multi-sport athlete.  Oostburg put DeMaster in a key position, and it paid off for them.  She led her squad with 418 digs and will be expected to take even more of a leadership role in 2019 after graduating some key seniors.</p> <p><strong>Lydia Schult – 5'6 – Wisconsin Valley Lutheran (21-5)</strong></p> <p>Schult is definitely a hidden gem that needs to be on the radar of college coaches.  She was clutch for the Wolves in 2018 with scrappy defense and solid coverage.  Schult was a captain in 2018 and will take on a bigger leadership role in 2019. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="80755" first="Lauren" last="Elliot"]t – 5'7 – Kimberly (33-11)</strong></p> <p>Elliott has been playing alongside high-level players at Kimberly for a couple years and training with Louisville player [player_tooltip player_id="9265" first="Emily" last="Scott"] and Loyola commit [player_tooltip player_id="10223" first="Maggie" last="Cartwright"].  Elliott is scrappy, fast, and plays all out.  She is a solid communicator on the court and has the tools to play at the next level.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>