Year in Review: Austin’s Ten Favorite Articles of 2023

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>What a year. What a journey.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We saw it all in 2023. Club drama. GJNC triumphs. Heated high school rivalries and new state champions. Before we put new calendars on the wall, let's take a look back at the year that was.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here are ten of my favorite Prep Dig articles of 2023 in chronological order.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><a href="https://prepdig.com/2023/01/nebraska-teams-primed-for-championship-sunday-at-nlq/">Nebraska Teams Primed for Championship Sunday at NLQ - Jan. 28</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Northern Lights Qualifier is one of our earliest gateways into the club season--especially for Nebraska teams.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>And the 17s and 18s wave had some big-time team outings from the Nebraska crew. What a way to kick it all off.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><a href="https://prepdig.com/2023/02/triple-crown-roundtable-preview-austins-version/">Triple Crown Roundtable Preview - Austin's Version - Feb. 15</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Projecting winners at Triple Crown NIT is one of the toughest tasks you could possibly take on. We tried to do it anyway.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Our yearly NIT roundtable covered everything from favorites to sleepers to top prospects in one of the year's biggest recruiting weekends.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><a href="https://prepdig.com/2023/02/nebraskas-big-winners-from-triple-crown-nit/">Nebraska's Big Winners from Triple Crown NIT - Feb. 24</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Another entry for Triple Crown. It's that important.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I was fortunate to do a lot of national coverage at this prestigious event, but I had to rep the Cornhusker State, too. Nebraska featured a lot of teams who shined on one of club volleyball's biggest stages, and this article was for them.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><a href="https://prepdig.com/2023/03/nebraska-bid-tracker-premier-16-gold-faces-nlq-tiebreaker-mania/">Nebraska Bid Tracker: Premier 16 Gold Faces Tiebreaker Mania - March 29</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This was undoubtedly one of the most memorable moments of the 2023 club season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>NLQ's second wave devolved into 16 Open chaos as [program_tooltip program_id='428717' first='Nebraska' last='ONE'] 16 Synergy and Premier 16 Gold were involved in a chaotic Gold pool alongside Northern Lights 16-1. This feature covers the journey of Premier 16 Gold, which vaulted itself to a GJNC bid by winning a dramatic 15-point tiebreaker set.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><a href="https://prepdig.com/2023/04/instant-15s-standouts-at-the-great-plains-region-bid-tournament/">Instant 15s Standouts at the Great Plains Region Bid Tournament - April 30</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ah, GPR. This was a fun one.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I traveled to Omaha to do concurrent coverage of the 15s and 17s looking to punch the final GJNC tickets. After all the drama unfolded, we had some instant stars to cover.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><a href="https://prepdig.com/2023/06/2025-national-rankings-highlights-most-intimidating-outsides/">2025 National Rankings Highlights: Most Intimidating Outsides - June 13</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Releasing our National 2025 rankings was a big milestone. I was lucky enough to have a small say in how everything played out, and it came right before recruitment opened for the 2025s.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I delved into the national scene for this feature and addressed the wide pool of terminal 2025 outsides. Many of these athletes have since committed to some of the top collegiate programs in the country.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><a href="https://prepdig.com/2023/07/south-central-ne-15-blacks-small-town-gems-shine-at-gjnc/">South Central NE 15 Black's Small-Town Gems Shine at GJNC - July 9</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2023 was a huge year for small-town Nebraska players on the national club scene.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>South Central NE 15 Black was a perfect example. This group of hidden gems won a division title at the Show Me Qualifier and followed it up with a podium finish at GJNC. We broke it all down in this feature, and many of the names in there are absolute stars on the high school side, too.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><a href="https://prepdig.com/2023/09/introducing-the-first-nebraska-class-of-2027-watch-list/">Introducing the First Nebraska Class of 2027 Watch List - Sept. 15</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>How about another momentous rankings release?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This was the year for the 2027s to enter the fray and join our database. We compiled a decent sample size of high school matches before making the big September reveal. It's almost time to add to that list, too.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><a href="https://prepdig.com/2023/11/seniors-going-out-on-top-at-the-2023-nsaa-state-championships/">Seniors Going Out on Top at the 2023 NSAA State Championships - Nov. 7</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The jubilation of winning a state tournament is captured here.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We always want to give the veteran players their due, even if most have wrapped up their recruiting journey. The list of 2024s in this feature made an indelible mark on the Nebraska prep scene, and we'll never forget their final moments as high school athletes.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><a href="https://prepdig.com/2023/11/prep-dig-showcase-alums-who-shined-in-nebraskas-2023-fall-season/">Prep Dig Showcase Alums Who Shined in Nebraska's 2023 Fall Season - Nov. 29</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We can't forget about the showcases.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Showcases are not just for seeing what skills players possess. It also puts names on our radar that we can follow in future competitions. We captured that in this November article right before taking on our next December showcase in La Vista.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->