Lithe and springy, Audrey has made the move to Circle for her final club season. Fully capable of being a six-rotation attacker at the small-college level, Miss Bassett has known nothing but open-level play in both her high school and club careers. She wrapped up her high school career as part of Westfield’s best team ever, and filled the stat sheet in her years of service at Westfield. Although the majority of her high school six-rotation play was in her junior season, she’s done it at an open level for club, and can be all things for a program looking to increase the talent level in the outside hitting group in college. With over 600 kills and 400 digs in her career as a Shamrock, she’s got more than enough ability to terminate at the next level.

There are a ton of elite weapons that play for Westfield on offense, and anyone who watches the ‘Rocks knows this by the end of the first set. But what about Audrey? Without her double-digit kill outing against HSE in the sectional, I’m not so sure they pull out a victory against the Royals. She’ll be needed again, and with a constantly varying shot selection, to keep Carroll off-balance.

Lithe but certainly not playing like it, Audrey is a recent transfer to Circle from Team Indiana, where she was a primary-passing outside on an open-level team. Quick with her feet and whip-like with her arm swing, Audrey can terminate from anywhere and receive serve at an above-average level. She does best while passing with other solid passers, as her confidence lies directly with her attacking. An exceptional team player, she thrives in an atmosphere that has solid, positive leadership in both coaches and teammates. In short, Audrey is the type of kid you don’t have to think about—she does her job without the need for approval, and does it well.

Another potential six-rotation kid had a nice weekend at Indy Cup on both the attack and on defense/serve receive. The only thing truly missing from her overall volleyball package is the ability to speed her arm up to “terminal” levels. She’s this close to finishing plays that could be tool shots instead of continuations if her armswing was faster and/or heavier. Other than that, this is a well-trained, primary-passing six-rotation outside that would do well in a system that will allow her to strengthen that shoulder on offense. The rest of her game is college-ready.

Long and lean, Audrey is deceptively strong and highly serviceable as an outside at the next level. She could easily be anything from a three-rotation attacker to a six-rotation outside for any size school. The variety of shots she can score points with is vast—not too many athletes in this class have the sheer ability to hit any and every shot. She even makes the four-to-four shot look easy; beacuse of this, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s played a little outdoor ball during her career.

With super long arms and a whip of a shoulder, Audrey is more than capable of being at least a three rotation attacker at the next level from either pin. Apt to hit some of the tougher shots in the game, her high line attack is indefensible and her hard angle is tough to dig. I’d like to see a little more consistency in her serve receive, but that just takes a little more training, which is what this club season is all about. Long and lean for days, Audrey’s athletic play in the front row will be more than serviceable for any program lucky to have her.

Since “undersized” no longer exists in college or professional volleyball (thank you Charitie Luper and Leketor Member-Meneh), can we please stop using that phrase when talking about great OHs like Miss Bassett? This young lady takes her height completely out of the equation with her athleticism, skill, work ethic and positive attitude. It is clear that she is an incredible teammate when she is on the court AND off – a quality that is getting harder to find in this day and age of “look at me, look at me!” Bassett is an unselfish player (is there a better quality in an athlete) who plays all the way around with a calm presence. When attacking, she can hit any shot – I especially love her deep swings to both corners that are darn near impossible to defend. She will mix in an off speed to the middle of the court once in a while making the defense have to choose what to defend – the deep corner shot or the off speed. Of all the pins I have seen in this class, Audrey is one of the better passers; you can tell she takes pride in her serve receive!

Bassett and her Team Indiana 16.1 crew are headed to Vegas this week as well for USAV Jr Nationals in the 16 American division. She is the solid, steady, 6-rotation OH that every team needs and wants to have on their roster. Her serve receive when she is both back and front row is the 3 C’s: calm, collected & confident; the type of player you feel confident passing next to. Her back row attacking is the same – confident and effective. Audrey also reads hitters well when playing middle back defense and didn’t miss an opportunity to cover one time when I watched her. In the front row she is a shot placer – she can hit both deep corners, the roll shot to the middle of the court and a hard driven ball through the hole in the block. She is the 6-rotation OH other players love to play with.