Watching Kinley do her thing for a couple of years now, her rise from gangly summer league project (freshman year) to Dayton commit has been nothing short of amazing. Her work ethic, constant and consistent play and relentless motor while playing got her here, and it’s great to see from this perspective. The Atlantic 10 is a tough league to play in, so Miss Young’s work isn’t done, but her length, speed on transition and whip of an arm are good places to start the REAL work.

The rise of this young lady over the last two years has been nothing short of meteoric. Putting together her length, her athleticism and her volleyball acuity over the years has risen her stock so much that it’s hard to remember where she came from. Long and lean for days, Kinley plays bigger than her frame, has the skill set to take over a match on both offense and defense, and when adding her quick transition, she’s nearly impossible to stop when in-system. All that’s left for Miss Young to perfect her game is time and training, which should be right up her alley because of that high level of work ethic.

Long and lean for days, Kinley plays much bigger than her 6’1″ frame. Her block takes up space, and she penetrates into the opponent’s court with ease. Capable of terminating from both in front of and behind the setter, scoring points was NOT an issue for Miss Young. The last match I saw from this squad was all about feeding Kinley the ball. No, Boiler Juniors 16-1 didn’t have the finish they wanted, either. But it’s refreshing to see a kid go out and play hard regardless of the score or their result in a tournament.

I first caught Kinley a few years ago at a high school summer league, looking like a giraffe learning to play. Fast-forward to today, and she’s a full-on middle for one of the better clubs in the midwest. Long and lean for days, Kinley can add her jumping ability along with her impressive length to go over blocks, while also having the volleyball IQ to adjust to what her setter gives her and what the block presents. Lebanon is NOT a “volleyball school” in the traditional sense. But after watching Kinley play, she might be the first reason it starts becoming a hotspot for solid volleyball talent.

As an M1 on this Boiler Junior squad, Kinley can work behind the setter on offense off of two feet or one and do it effectively. She proved on day one that she can terminate both the 6 and the 9 ball with efficiency. Young appears to take a lot of pride in her blocking; she really works hard to be a WALL all along the net, closing to both pins well and using her long arms to dive in the seams if she’s late. Lastly, she is good at finding the middle of the court with a tip when she needs too. One area to work on for Kinley is staying off the net in transition, so she has more room to hit and can swing both angles.

What immediately caught my eye with Young was her ability to close the block in both directions very well, especially for a middle blocker her age. She uses her length effectively to get two hands up and over on every opponent’s swing, getting playable touches on many balls so her team can dig more easily. Much like older high school and college level players, she has the ability when blocking to dive into the seam when she is late to close; a skill not often seen at this age. I also really loved how she worked to transition every single time – she was an option for her setter on every play.