Half a Dozen Middles Make Their 2028 Rankings Debut

Here at Prep Dig middles are appreciated. Many middles would prefer to make the move to a pin where all the glory sees to lie. More recently, it appears the pins have greater length than the middles as the athleticism in the sport has increased. Below are a half a dozen middles who did not choose to go outside and are being rewarded. True, there are ten more pins who debuted in the rankings than middles. However, where would they be without strong middles freezing the block to allow them the opening to make the kil? Liberos also look good when middles have blocked out a good portion of the court that they do not have to cover. Hail to the middles who stay at their position.   [player_tooltip player_id='809724' first='Kiara' last='Oguno'] (Thomas Jeffereson/Virginia Elite) - Kiara debuts at number 68 in our class of 2028. At 6'0" with a good vertical Kiara can get high over the net when creating a block. She impresses with an approach jump that reaches 9'9". Her block jump reaches 9'5". Both numbers are the best for a Virginia Elite 15 team. She made the roster as a frosh for the Colonials but that was only for the playoff run. With the graduation of Ava Stewart she should fill a middle role this season.   [player_tooltip player_id='823364' first='Claire' last='Stallard'] (Turner Ashby/Valley Juniors) - She stood out for Valley Juniors at the Gran Prix tournament in Richmond. She lists at 6'1" with some long arms that can reach high over the net for blocking. When she tips the ball over the block she can put some downward movement on the ball that allows it to find the floor faster. She hits the quick tempo sets well but with a little improvement in her transition game she would place herself in a better position to hit those quick tempo sets more frequently. Claire debuts at number 70 in our class of 2028. Last year Claire made the roster for Turner Ashby as a frosh.   [player_tooltip player_id='768531' first='Luciana' last='Martinez'] (Oakton/Braddock) - Another middle who impressed at the Gran Prix tournament in Richmond. She played for Braddock Road and debuted at number 77 in our 2028 rankings. When hitting the quick tempo sets she brought a lot of power to her swing. She also was proficient on a number of redirect kills. When it came time for her to serve she delivered bullets across the net which resulted in a number of aces. Last year she did not make the Oakton roster. It appears this year that the Cougars have the middle position covered with juniors and seniors. It would not surprise me that if she performs well and receives an opportunity to play on varsity before the season ends.   [player_tooltip player_id='781020' first='Harper' last='Slate'] (Western Albermarle/Metro) - [player_tooltip player_id='781020' first='Harper' last='Slate'] only started playing volleyball this past season. Metro saw her 6'3" heightt and stashed her on the roster. She shows an approach jump of 9'7" which after more work should improve. She does show good athletic movement on the court. Her debut at number 89 in our class of 2028 is based a lot on potential. She did not get a lot of opportunity to play for Metro this past club season. She showed some impressive redirect kills at the Junior Nationals in Dallas. Though she did not play a lot the 15U team won the National Division at junior nationals. Harper did not get a lot of playing time with the Warriors as well but did earn a player of the match award for October 17.   [player_tooltip player_id='778640' first='Mollie' last='Smith'] (Woodrow Wilson/River Valley Jrs) - Mollie played up for a [program_tooltip program_id='506397' first='River' last='Valley Juniors'] team that competed in the 18U Divisions. All of the players on her team were in the 17/18 age group. She held her own at the East Coast championships There team won the 18 select division. Mollie lists at 6'0". Her primary role for [program_tooltip program_id='506397' first='River' last='Valley Juniors'] was to run the quicks in the middle to create one person blocks on the outside. Her high school she attends is actually located in West Virginia. She made the team as a frsoh finishing first on the team in blocks and third in kills. She debuts at 109 in our class of 2028 rankings   [player_tooltip player_id='809493' first='Alexis' last='Beasley'] (Elanor Roosevelt/Maryland Jrs) - Alexis debuts at number 124 in our class of 2028 rankings. She lists at 6'0" and looked good when running the quick tempo sets for Maryland Juniors. She did not appear on the Raiders roster as a frosh but with two graduating middles her opportunity could arrive this year.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Max Preps Announces Top Players in Each State</h2>   MaxPreps relies on volleyball coaches to input statistics on player performance. The reward for those players is lots of notoriety. I use their statistics to track how players are doing during the high school season. They carry an impact in my rankings. Below are the three players they name as the top player in each sate. I'll counter that with the player that may actually rank the best if Maxpreps carried their stats.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">DC</h2>    According to the Maxpreps stats Caycee led the Mighty Hoppers in aces and was third in digs. She also finished the season with 703 aces. That was number one for DC County schools. Georgetown Day also won the DC state title for the third season in a row. Of the returning players Caycee brings the more impressive stats.   [player_tooltip player_id='221032' first='Wynn' last='Mendez Eaton'] finished right behind Caycee with 650 assists. She sets for Saint Johns. She ranks number 49 in our class of 2026 and has committed to Rochester.    No alternative for me. [player_tooltip player_id='206729' first='Megan' last='Phan'] actually led the "DC" schools in assists with 726. However, she plays for Bullis which is located in Maryland. Bullis plays in the Independent School League (ISL) which for ease of rankings Maxpreps classifies all schools in the ISL as DC schools. That may be changing since I see Flint Hill in Virginia.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Maryland</h2>   [player_tooltip player_id='833815' first='Katherine' last='Mitchell'] (Richard Montgomery) - Katherine won the top player in Maryland, a surprising pick since she is only a sophomore. She did win the MVP in the Junior Nationals in the National Division 15U for leading Metro to a first place finish. That in itself was an accomplishment and perhaps MaxPreps took that into account. If you look at the stat leaders for Maryland Katherine falls to 39th with 172 kills but she played a lot of middle which limits the number of kills. This season she will play predominately left side and those kill numbers should spike upward (pardon the pun).   If I was looking at all Maryland schools Katherine would be one of the top players. However, if I was picking the top player in Maryland for this coming season I would be more inclined to go with [player_tooltip player_id='303701' first='Caydence' last='Doolan']. She has led the Hubs to three consecutive Class 3 state championships. Because North Hagerstown does not report the stats to Maxpreps her play fails to get recognized. She has committed to Marquette.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Virginia</h2>    Hard to argue against [player_tooltip player_id='238357' first='Claire' last='Mo'] for top player in the state of Virginia. She has set Langley to two consecutive championships. For club she also swithch from [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] to Metro. Metro finished in third place in the 17 Open this past club season after a disappointing close to the bottom the previous season. The one critical addition for Metro was the addition of Claire at setter. Except for her, for the most part the Metro roster stayed the same.   Claire finished number one in assists for Langley last year with 967. Right behind her in assists was Kylee Snider for Giles with 951, but she set only one player and Giles did not win a state championship.   Claire has committed to Columbia.      Maxpreps could have considered [player_tooltip player_id='452562' first='Sophie' last='Taylor'] from Giles who broke a state record for kills in a season with 742 That would account to close to 80 percent of Kylee Snider's assists. The VHSL uses Maxpreps for tracking those numbers to record in the record book. As the old saying goes, if a tree hits the ground and nobody is around does it make a sound? If a player finishes with 743 kills however the team fails to publish the stats is a record broken? Probably not.   Other players to consider would be [player_tooltip player_id='301696' first='Nadiya' last='Johnson'] who earned a spot on the U.S. junior national team roster but Riverside does not record stats into Maxpreps. [player_tooltip player_id='181302' first='Kennedy' last='Spaid'] is another option. She has led James Wood to two consecutive championships however she ranked number ten in kills last season according to Maxpreps. Many of the wins for James Woods were 3-0 sweeps so that keeps the kill numbers down.   Overall, I can't argue against [player_tooltip player_id='238357' first='Claire' last='Mo'] since without her setting Langley would not have won two consecutive Class 6 state championships.. This year they will rely on her for a third.

Here at Prep Dig middles are appreciated. Many middles would prefer to make the move to a pin where all the glory sees to lie. More recently, it appears the pins have greater length than the middles as the athleticism in the sport has increased. Below are a half a dozen middles who did not choose to go outside and are being rewarded. True, there are ten more pins who debuted in the rankings than middles. However, where would they be without strong middles freezing the block to allow them the opening to make the kil? Liberos also look good when middles have blocked out a good portion of the court that they do not have to cover. Hail to the middles who stay at their position.