Six For ’26: Six Athletes From Circle City From The Class Of ’26

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Doing my rounds on roster releases, I found a bunch of athletes from the class of '26 that I could have used in this article from Circle. Here are just six of them, from three different rosters, that should be seen more this spring.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">17 Black</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Considered the 17-2 squad at Circle, I'm thinking this particular group is closer to 17-1.5 in potential. The lone class of '26 athlete I found was <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='221342' first='Lily' last='Jones'] ('26, 6-0 Pin, Roncalli),</strong> a high-flying, long and lean attacker. She can terminate from anywhere, but is best suited to the pins because of her defensive length and her attack height. She's also quite fast in transition, so a faster-than-average offense won't faze her.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">16 Purple</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The top 16s team at Circle has so much talent and potential. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='252404' first='Addie' last='Haberthy'] ('26, 5-11 S, Roncalli)</strong> runs this show, and plays at quite a mature level for her age. She can already set tight passes with accuracy, and her long strides get her to a ton of balls that aren't passed to target. She's also one of the better blocking setters in this class. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='226810' first='Ella' last='Warrick'] ('26, 5-8 OH/DS, Linton-Stockton)</strong> looks lithe, but is anything but weak. Her relentless attitude on the court has built her into a six-rotation, primary-passing gym rat that plays with a chip on her shoulder---I love that about her. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='221478' first='Josie' last='Imes'] ('26, 5-10 OH, Zionsville) </strong>is another six-rotation queen, hitting a heavy ball to go along with her ability to terminate from anywhere, front or back row. Her ball control is also above-average, making her a complete player in her most important recruiting year.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">16 Black</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This roster is filled with kids that have come from far away AND right down the street. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='394127' first='Ella' last='Vandermark'] ('26, 6-1 MB, Danville)</strong> is one of the latter, and plays much bigger than her frame. This past fall in high school ball, multiple refs, coaches and fans contacted me about her. Well, they were right. She can be either middle at the next level, and runs attacks behind and in front of the setter with similar, terminal results. Stong, lean and lengthy, Ella also adds quick twitches to her attack jump, making her hard to block. At the other end of the distance spectrum is <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='210333' first='Kenlee' last='Barnard'] ('26, 6-1 S/RS, Evansville North).</strong> From about two hours' drive one-way, Kenlee will be coming to practice to set and (possibly) attack for the 16 Black squad. The biggest setter on my '26 list, she plays with a smoothness of someone that's done this before. Her floor defense is above average for ANY position, she can set every ball in tempo, and even shows accuracy when saving an overpass with a one-handed set. Kenlee also has a cool and calm demeanor that will carry her far in her career.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->