Quick on transition and with a high attack point, Danica was a Metro kid (Evansville) before moving over to KiVA this spring. She’s currently on their 16 White squad, and is a fast and terminal M2 for this undersized squad. You might not have seen her play much because of the size of her high school and where she’s located, but trust me, you’re getting an athletic and fast middle that has length for days and is an injection of positive vibes for any roster she’s a part of.

When I think of a kid I would love to coach as a middle, I think of Danica. She clearly loves the game and is driven to improve her craft and never stop learning – each time I have seen her play she has gotten significantly better and more confident. One area of improvement I really noticed was her quickness on offense and her fast arm swing making her a very efficient attacker, especially in front of the setter. Dowling’s transition has improved as well, and she is clearly working on being an option on offense every single time – a skill that I wish more young middles would focus on. If she can keep working on her lateral speed when blocking so she can close quickly and more often, Danica is going to be a menace to the teams she plays against. I love having her in the gym and can’t wait to see how she develops over the next year or so with all of the hard work she is putting in.

It’s not often that southwestern Indiana produces an athlete that’s (1) this big, and (2) can jump this well. Capable of going over blocks where others might not hit as high, Danica is a raw and athletic attacker that might be best paired with a setter that understands how high she jumps to get her to reach her max jump. To be honest, I have yet to see this young lady hit at her highest point because setters she’s been with don’t make her go reach for the ball. I would not be surprised if she’s at or near ten feet on her attack touch, as she has more than enough potential to do so. Either way, Danica’s athleticism should stick out immediately with the squad she’s with, and the sky’s (literally) the limit.

From the Evansville area, Danica was another kid we saw at our Top 250 Expo that really turned our heads. She needs to learn how to give herself space away from the net when attacking—this might be a result of setters consistently setting her too tight to the net over the years. Even on a truncated attack swing, however, Danica still finds ways to terminate over and around blocks regularly. I also like her court awareness; no matter where the ball is passed, she’s always at the right spacing from the setter and in the air on time to get a good swing, no matter where the ball is set. This type of court awareness isn’t usually seen this early in a middle’s career, yet Miss Dowling has it figured out already.

The first thing that caught my eye about Dowling was that she is built to play middle. She has a long lean build that lends itself to quick lateral movement, a high reach and solid blocking. During hitting drills and competition it was clear that Dowling is very athletic with a fast arm swing and she transitions really well for being just a freshman. One other trait that Danica has that many of the other young middles struggled with is tracking the ball in both serve receive and transition. She has a natural knack for it that you simply cannot teach; her depth perception and spatial awareness has already developed, allowing her to stay out of the way of the setter AND be a well-spaced option on every play. Lastly, this young player talks really well and has a confidence about her that we often don’t see until a year or two down the road.