Southwest Michigan’s Top Underclassmen, Part 2

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 2025 fall season brought out a lot of new talented faces in Southwest Michigan.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A dozen underclassmen really made a big impact and will be among the stars of the state in the upcoming years.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here's Part 2 of our look at Southwest Michigan's top sophomores and freshmen.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Isla Hendrickson, So. MH Michigan Lutheran/Krush</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A multi-sport athlete, Hendrickson looked really improved this fall for Michigan Lutheran. She had a great all-around season with over 200 kills, nearly 200 digs, and nearly 70 blocks. She is listed at just 5'8”, but she has a lot of explosiveness off the floor to make an impact in a lot of ways. She received All-State honors in D4.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='782946' first='Catie' last='Jilek'], Fr. S Portage Central/FaR Out</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A long setter at 5'10”, Jilek is also able to play the right side. She's got a lot of athleticism and a great court IQ to work with. That allows her to run a fast offense, but also be a go-to option during pressure situations when a team needs a big swing. Jilek is able to make a lot of challenging plays look easy.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Lila Karsen, So. S Lawton</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Karsen ran the Lawton offense this fall and looked very comfortable in a leadership role. She pushed herself to make difficult sets and add new perks to her game. You could see by the end of the season that she was a much better player than when she started the 2025 campaign.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>AnneMarie Pelak, So. OH Mattawan</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pelak makes herself long at the net and makes consistent contact at the peak of her attack. I really like her approach to the net, and you can see there's room for her to keep adding more speed and tempo to her game. Pelak is a hitter that is going to be over to take over matches in the upcoming seasons.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='848766' first='Hadley' last='Wagaman'], So. DS/L Bronson/Empowered</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Wagaman was an outstanding defender for Bronson this past fall, racking up over 600 digs while playing against consistently strong talent. She had great footwork and court awareness, always finding herself in position to make a tough dig. Wagaman also had over 100 aces on the year. She was a big reason Bronson remained in the mix in D3. She received All-State honors in D3, as well as <a href="https://prepdig.com/2025/12/2025-michigan-hs-d3-all-prep-dig-teams/">All-Prep Dig honors</a> for D3.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Julia Wiley, So. S South Haven/Dead Frog</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Wiley did a nice job of mixing up her offense and knowing where to get the ball at the right time. She showed a lot of maturity and leadership skills as well, being a good communicator with South Haven. Wiley also has defensive and serving skills to impact all phases of the game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->