2027 Players Watch List: Impact Middles

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We wrap up our watch list breakdown with an eye on the middles. Here are five that have already made an impact this past club season and should make more noise this fall.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='443871' first='Kinley' last='Young'], 6-1, Lebanon</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I got a chance to watch Kinley play at summer league, and I was impressed to see a freshman middle hold her own against bigger, stronger and more experienced players. Kinley is long and lean, takes long strides in transition, and does exceptionally well with a setter that can set her high enough to maximize her attack touch. she also defends the net quite well---all of that length makes her easily cover pin to pin.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='443848' first='Carsyn' last='Comer'], 6-2, Westfield</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Just off of a season at Munciana's 14-1, Carsyn plays well beyond her years AND her size. She's quick, smart, strong and has a solid volleyball IQ. Usually, a kid this big AND this young has a level of "newborn giraffe", as I call it. Not with Carsyn. She's smooth and athletic. I would not be surprised to see her on the varsity roster this fall, let alone get varsity reps. She's THAT good. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='435867' first='Lila' last='Bruszewski'], 6-0, Carmel</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Slide to the east to the next town and you get freshman middle Lila. I got a chance to see her at our Freshman Showcase a few weeks ago, and she did just fine, thankyouverymuch. Her length IS her strength, and she can cut angles around blocks with ease. I like her high attack point, as she made more than a few blocks irrelevant with that attack touch level. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='435854' first='Avery' last='Little'], 5-9, North Posey</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It can be a little intimidating when you're undersized. I wouldn't know, I'm 6-4. But for Avery, this was never an issue at our Freshman Showcase. She played smart and fast, without hesitation against significantly bigger blocks. Because of her school size, I don't think she sees the height that I saw her play against a few weeks ago. No matter. Avery was more than capable of putting balls away, slowing down attacks to make it easier for the defenders behind her, and transitioned fast to beat any block thrown at her.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='447838' first='Avery' last='Olsen'], 6-1, Penn</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I'm impressed with this one for a simple reason: she can adjust to any setter she's with. Normally, middles just GO, throw their arm at where the ball <em>should</em> be, and blame the setter. Not this middle. On multiple occasions and multiple watches, she adjusts her arm swing to what the setter gave her, making an ok set better. Additionally, she's long and lean, and that high attack touch definitely helps. I'm just curious as to what happens when she gets a setter that knows her. When that day comes, it'll be fun to watch Avery put balls away with <em>pace.</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->