One of the few open-level six-rotation athletes still available in this class, Ellie is a springy and fast outside that can do all the things a normal primary-passing outside can and should do. On the attack, she has all of the shots in her arsenal, including off-speed. As a blocker, her height and length allow her to do her job well. In serve receive, she does appear to be a bit upright, but still manages to be quite serviceable when receiving. On defense, she’s again too upright for my taste, but still has the ability to read, react and make a play that allows her setter to do her job.

A taller version of Sophie at the other outside hitting position on Union’s top 17s team is Ellie, who is yet another six-rotation option for the fall of ’26. Long, lean and athletic, Ellie is exceptional at scoring points when things aren’t perfect from the setter. Her high contact point and long strides while playing allow her to cover ground and do things smaller outsides just can’t do. I like Ellie’s pass-to-attack ability, as she always seems to be ready to hit whether she’s in serve receive or not. Her only major limitation might be the need for a quicker arm swing, which Coach Purichia is more than likely training her to do this spring.

Another gem I stumbled upon while watching a teammate play (Vaughn above), is Scharlow, a high-flying, hard-hitting, ball of energy, 6 rotation OH. One of the things that makes Ellie so effective on offense is her deep transition to approach allowing her to hit EVERY angle on the court with a ton of pace. This discipline to transition fully on the outside every time is what really makes her shine – I saw her attack HARD down the line and cross court, tool the right side block and hit high hands. She has all the shots you want to see in a junior OH. On defense she was relentless and never looked hurried or chaotic, making her a perfect fit to play middle back and then swing to hit back row. Scharlow is the kind of player you want to anchor and lead your team – she never lets up, is very efficient and leads with both skill AND energy.

Blain has risen up to be a main weapon for Ballard these last two falls. Blain consistently finds ways around blocks, putting balls in open parts of the court. She’s also improving at the net with excellent timing on her blocks. She hustles after balls defensively and is good at digging up blocked balls. Blain had 236 kills, 19 assisted blocks, four solo blocks and 95 digs leading the Bruins to a 26-10 record and a spot in the rugged 7th Region Tournament for the second straight season.