2024 Club Preview: Michigan Elite 17 Mizuno/17 Elite
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Be sure to follow @lshotvb on Instagram, Tik Tok and Twitter for all things volleyball! – Just like that, club season is upon us! After another incredible high school season, this club season is proving to be another big one for Michigan-based…
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Just like that, club season is upon us!
After another incredible high school season, this club season is proving to be another big one for Michigan-based club teams. In 2023, we saw national champions be crowned as well as many top finishes from all ages from these prestigious clubs. It’s time to look to the future and see what these clubs have in store for us in 2024.
This 2025 class is a stacked one. Which shapes up to create some really exciting teams in the 17s age group. Let’s take a look at what Michigan Elite 17 Mizuno and 17 Elite will be up to this club season.
17 Mizuno
Shelby Ignash Shelby Ignash 6'1" | MB Cass City | 2025 State #124 Nation MI – Cass City | Victoria Gray Victoria Gray 6'2" | MB Bedford | 2025 State #100 Nation MI – Bedford | Katerina Stout Katerina Stout 6'3" | MB Macomb Dakota | 2025 State MI – Dakota |
Ella Craggs Ella Craggs 5'9" | S Northville | 2025 State #127 Nation MI – Northville | McKenna Payne McKenna Payne 5'7" | DS/L SMCC | 2025 State #105 Nation MI – St. Mary Catholic Central | Addison Newblatt Addison Newblatt 5'9" | OH Clarkston | 2025 State MI – Clarkston |
Isabelle Busignani Isabelle Busignani 6'1" | OH Marian | 2025 State #73 Nation MI – Marian | Jessica Costlow Jessica Costlow 5'11" | OH SMCC | 2025 State #142 Nation MI – St. Mary Catholic Central | Gabriella Babinski Gabriella Babinski 6'1" | RS South Lyon East | 2025 State MI – South Lyon East |
This 17 Mizuno group may be one of the most hotly anticipated team coming into the 2024 season. After placing Runner-Ups in the 16 Open Division at AAU Nationals, they would go on to place top ten at USAV Nationals as well. This a team chock-full of championship experience and will be looking to kick it up even further this season.
Power on the Pins
This core group of pins have been together since their 14s years and have created quite the tandem amongst each other. Isabelle Busignani Isabelle Busignani 6'1" | OH Marian | 2025 State #73 Nation MI (Cincinnati), Jessica Costlow Jessica Costlow 5'11" | OH SMCC | 2025 State #142 Nation MI (Toledo) and Gabriella Babinski Gabriella Babinski 6'1" | RS South Lyon East | 2025 State MI (Georgia Southern) return to Elite after a huge 2023 year that included that national title game run and big time commitments in the fall.
On the left pin, both Busignani and Costlow have become two of the top six rotation players in the country. Busignani was the leading scorer for this team last year and carried that into the fall with Marian. She was named an All-American in the 16 Open at AAUs and then named a First Team All-State in Division I this fall. Costlow was right behind Busignani in scoring for Elite and then went onto lead SMCC as well. Similarly, Costlow was named a First Team All-State performer this fall after leading the Kestrels to a Final Four in Division III.
On the right pin, Babinski has become a really promising player. An outlet for the quick point on a heavy hammer, Babinski grew quite nicely as a blocker throughout the 23 club season. This fall saw Babinski spend the majority of her time on the left pin for South Lyon East where she carried a lot of the weight from scoring to her passing. I wouldn’t be surprised to see her weave back and forth from the left and right pin this club season given her success with SLE in the fall.
Middle Territory
From 15s going into 16s year, the middle was the biggest question for this group. Not only did they find the answer last season, but they managed to find some of the top middles in the 2025 class.
Multi-sport athletes, Shelby Ignash Shelby Ignash 6'1" | MB Cass City | 2025 State #124 Nation MI (Texas Tech) and Victoria Gray Victoria Gray 6'2" | MB Bedford | 2025 State #100 Nation MI (Indiana) return to this Mizuno group from last year’s team. These two not only had huge debuts in the club space, but managed to forge themselves as two of the top burgeoning talents in the middle. The slide queen, Ignash, has been keeping the winning ways alive since July. After marking over 1,000 kills this fall for Cass City, she led the Hawks back to the Final Four in Division III for a second straight season. For Gray, it seemed as club ball mega-charged this once-basketball phenom. She, too, led her team at Bedford in kills and blocks and nearly saw herself upsetting the top team in the state in the early goings of the post-season.
Joining this group, after playing a season up on 17 Mizuno last season, is Katerina Stout Katerina Stout 6'3" | MB Macomb Dakota | 2025 State MI . She is a player that has found herself on a rapid trajectory. I am excited to see what Stout is made of with this group. Last season saw Stout begin on Elite’s 2s teams before being called up to the 17-1s. She thrived in this challenge and has become a key figure to keep an eye on. She matches Ignash and Gray in her size and brings a really tough block.
Deadly Defenders
This entire group is talented with great ball control and defense. But there’s not many that can do it better than this duo of McKenna Payne McKenna Payne 5'7" | DS/L SMCC | 2025 State #105 Nation MI (Utah) and Addison Newblatt Addison Newblatt 5'9" | OH Clarkston | 2025 State MI (Fordham).
What makes these players so great in their positions is their do-it-all nature on the court. For Payne, we’ve seen her play just about every position on the court throughout her career. At SMCC, she led her team to the Final Four in both her freshman and junior years. Her freshman year, as an attacker, and this past fall, she was setting the offense. Payne’s come on strong as one of the top ‘bros in this class and has become a series regular at the USA NTDP over the last year.
For Newblatt, she can be this defensive dynamo of a DS out of right back, or she can bring down the hammer as a hitter. And that’s just what she did this fall for Clarkston. Newblatt became that hammer too hot to handle. As a six rotation player, we got to see a lot of fire power from Newblatt en route to the Final Four this fall. She was so impressive in this role that I wouldn’t be surprised if we see her get some time as an attacker as much as a DS this winter.
Setting the Pace
It really makes a setters job easy when you have this type of offense to work with off of such an elite back court presence. But what kicks it up another level is when you have a setter like Ella Craggs Ella Craggs 5'9" | S Northville | 2025 State #127 Nation MI (Illinois State) on hand. While a respectable setter in her early career, last season saw Craggs really push her name into the mix as one of the best in the country. And this is a stacked class for the setters. She’s not only skilled her ability to dish the ball, but this is a player that begs to seen on the big stages. Whether it is the national championship match at AAUs, or another Final Four run with Northville. Craggs is a setter destined for championships.
17 Elite
Tina Barnekova Tina Barnekova 5'10" | MB Rochester Adams | 2025 State MI – Rochester Adams | Alayna Esselink Alayna Esselink 5'10" | MB Richmond | 2025 State MI – Richmond | Alyssa Jasman Alyssa Jasman 5'2" | DS/L Canton | 2025 State MI – Canton |
Mya Kattula Mya Kattula 5'11" | S Notre Dame Prep | 2025 State MI – Notre Dame Prep | Julia Rodriguez Julia Rodriguez 5'11" | MB Frankenmuth | 2025 State MI – Frankenmuth | Samantha Roffi Samantha Roffi 5'6" | S Garden City | 2025 State MI – Garden City |
Lili Smith Lili Smith 5'11" | S Flushing | 2025 State MI – Flushing | Audrey Thummel Audrey Thummel 5'6" | DS/L Notre Dame Prep | 2025 State MI – Notre Dame Prep | Amanda Vushaj Amanda Vushaj 5'11" | OH Regina | 2025 State MI – Regina |
Abigail Wutka Abigail Wutka 5'11" | OH Macomb Dakota | 2025 State MI – Dakota |
Last season saw this group go a little bit under the radar. Due to injuries, mix-ups and what not, this crew didn’t have the most ideal of outcomes at the end of the season. Despite this, this team could come out as one of the most promising 2s teams out of Michigan.
Power on the Pins
This may be one of the more familiar looking parts of this team. 17 Elite returns both Abigail Wutka Abigail Wutka 5'11" | OH Macomb Dakota | 2025 State MI and Tina Barnekova Tina Barnekova 5'10" | MB Rochester Adams | 2025 State MI from last year’s squad. While Barnekova was slotted mostly in the middle due to personnel, Wutka was a mainstay on the pins for Elite. The two return to this squad with really successful seasons on the pins for their respective high school teams.
Joining this team, but not new to MiElite, is outside hitter Amanda Vushaj Amanda Vushaj 5'11" | OH Regina | 2025 State MI . This is a player that saw herself on Elite’s 16 National East a season ago. A club season that bode this player extremely well., Vushaj’s stock went through the roof. A go-to weapon on the NE team, she transpired this success into the fall with Regina, earning All-Region honors in Division II. With this trio of hitters in rotation of each other, this could mean a really healthy balance of offense on the left pin.
Middle Territory
From the familiar faces, to brand new ones. The middles for this group looks a whole lot different from a season ago, but for the better. Joining Michigan Elite, we have Julia Rodriguez Julia Rodriguez 5'11" | MB Frankenmuth | 2025 State MI and Alayna Esselink Alayna Esselink 5'10" | MB Richmond | 2025 State MI . Two players coming off of huge fall campaigns from a pair of Division II heavyweights, this could be a real exciting combination.
Rodriguez joins this team by way of Five:1 VBC last club season. With Frankenmuth, Rodriguez become one of the top prospects in Division II for middle blockers. Her presence allowed the Eagles offense to spread and then flourish into an Elite 8 caliber squad that they became. For Esselink, she’s another player that came on super strong for Richmond throughout the fall. A player with little club experience, but brings loads of athleticism, her and Rodriguez could turn a lot of heads in their play.
Deadly Defenders
Another area of this team that sees itself do a clean flush. Coming into the 2024 season, Elite brings on Audrey Thummel Audrey Thummel 5'6" | DS/L Notre Dame Prep | 2025 State MI , Alyssa Jasman Alyssa Jasman 5'2" | DS/L Canton | 2025 State MI , and Samantha Roffi Samantha Roffi 5'6" | S Garden City | 2025 State MI as its line of defense. All of these player, however, are in-house products that Michigan Elite brings on.
For Thummel and Jasman, the both of these liberos take a step up to the 2s team after playing for the club’s 3s team a season ago. Thummel, alongside Vushaj, saw her stock also rise significantly during her time last winter. She comes from the perennial power, Notre Dame Prep which bodes her well given their success at producing elite defenders. Jasman joins this group from the clubs National West team from a season ago. The two both bring a really strong sense of the court, as both acted as their respective team’s liberos a season ago.
Moving from the setters position to a defensive role should be no problem for Roffi. Throughout her entire career thus far, this player has been the one running the offense. A little undersized at 5’6, Roffi has found a way to keep herself on the court with incredible defensive range. She’ll be a great utility piece for this group given her background as a setter which gives this team many options.
Setting the Pace
Last, but certainly, not least, we have the setters. And to just call these two setters sort of undersell it, I wouldn’t be surprised to see these two run the offense just as much as they are a part of it. Rounding out 17 Elite, we have both Lili Smith Lili Smith 5'11" | S Flushing | 2025 State MI and Mya Kattula Mya Kattula 5'11" | S Notre Dame Prep | 2025 State MI .
Despite all of the changes last club season saw, Smith managed to remain a shining star every step of the way. Acting as both the setter and an opposite for last year’s squad, she thrived in both roles. She can dish the ball with great location and has a great vertical that allows her to become an extremely effective hitter.
Joining Smith, Kattula joins MiElite by way of Unified VBC. Another Notre Dame Prep product, it’s never a bad deal when you get an NDP kid in the Elite gym. Much like her counterpart, Kattula is quite versed in being that do-it-all type of player. For both Unified and NDP, she was a hitter in the front row and a setter in the back court. With her lefty arm and knack to find the right shots, Kattula is quite effective in both positions. I suspect both her and Smith to continue these type of roles throughout the season to great success.