Kyla is playing the role of tough serving specialist and three-rotation defender for the best 17s team in the state of Indiana. She’s deadly from behind the baseline and fearless within the 900 square feet. Her dedication to her craft, constant and consistent work ethic and all-around great personality will be calling cards for Miss Hurley for years to come, and will be a nice defensive pickup for anyone who needs her skill set.

Also playing up a year on this squad is three-rotation DS Kyla. Her impact on a match in a part-time role makes a major difference and takes the pressure off of her fellow passers, especially the outsides. Just like in high school season, Kyla’s serve got tougher as the finals were in the closing stages, and she kept Circle out-of-system for the entire run of her serves in set two. Realistically, she could be a libero on any other squad, but chose this one for the winning, the training and the constant high-level play will make Miss Hurley one of the more attractive DS recruits in the class of ‘28.

On any other team, Kyla would be wearing the special jersey. To be fair, I’m all for Kyla getting (1) superior training from one of the best coaches in the country, and (2) the chance to play along side one of the best liberi in the country. She’s a spitfire of a defender, able to cover half of the court in serve receive and take pressure off of the front-row-only players on her roster. She’s also tough behind the baseline, adding to her recruiting skill set. In our showcases, she’s shown up and showed out. I would not be surprised in the least if she continues that high-end communication and work ethic for every roster she’s ever part of for the rest of her career.

And on cue with my articles, we go from one extreme to the other. Over a foot shorter than Miss Henderson above, we look to the future libero for Penn to continue to serve up—-literally—-wins for the Kingsmen. She’s “only” a DS right now, but has the mentality, skills and talent to wear the special jersey, and acts like that when in the game. Her serve receive, defense and tough serving will be needed in droves to get past the Bulldogs.

Already one of the top defenders in this class, Kyla will be the x-factor for Penn if they wish to advance beyond the regional this fall. She’s already earned some accolades from us at the Freshman Showcase in the summer of ‘24, and again at our Stock Up Showcase this past July. That being said, the Kingsmen will need multiple consistent passers to get through the gauntlet of the 4A postseason, and Kyla’s ability to defend and receive serve is one of the best in this class.

Kyla, from before the beginning of the showcase in warmups, showed us immediately what she was all about. Her relentless positive vocal coaching with her teammates, regardless of where they were from or who they were, showed her amazing sporting nature. Her leadership was in full effect during serve receive, where she was instantly able to pass half the court, taking immediate pressure off of the passers next to her. Additionally, her floor defense in left back was second to none, as her pursuit of off-speed shots were just as skilled as her ability to handle hard-driven balls hit her way. She was also very mindful of the court boundaries, rarely playing a ball that looked to be going out of bounds. Kyla’s relentless work ethic was also on display, as her endless motor never took a play off. If—and that’s a big IF—an error was made, you could almost see a mental reset before the next contact, ensuring that the same mistake would not be made twice. All of the traits listed above is what WE saw at the showcase; those same traits made it all the ore obvious why Miss Hurley has played up an age group at Pineapple High Performance both last season and this season. It was our pleasure to have Kyla among us on Sunday, and was completely obvious to the other scouts and coaches in attendance that no one was more deserving of the Committed honor from Avoli than Kyla.

Kyla just has IT when it comes to the DS/L position, and she has it at a very young age. She was my favorite DS to watch all day at the Stock Up Showcase for a multitude of reasons, but the main one was her ability to play confidently, but not arrogantly or showy. She always knew where to be on defense and communicated with her teammates well and often. When passing, she was SO GOOD on every type of ball: short, deep, right at her, in the seam – this young lady can pass from anywhere on the court, even when next to players she has never passed next to before. I love how she is able to read the play on defense well in advance, allowing her to stay on her feet most of the time. It is just a pleasure to watch her play, and I am so excited to see where she goes over the next three years!

A year ago at this time, we were honoring Kyla as one of the best freshman defenders at our Freshman Showcase. Not only have things improved for Kyla, they’ve improved for us as scouts just by having her. Constantly and consistently positive and encouraging while both on and off the court, she backed up her solid talk with exceptional play. Always in the right spot and always spot on with her passing, Miss Hurley proved why she’s playing up a year two years in a row at PHP.

Another repeat attendee, Kyla spent this past season as the libero for PHP’s inaugural 16-1 squad that set the club world on fire this spring. Named as a top libero at our freshman showcase from last summer, Miss Hurley is an active and hard-working defender who covers a lot of ground in serve receive, defense and coverage in every match and on every point. It’s important to note that the drive time between Penn High School and Angola, Indiana (PHP’s home) is about an hour and twenty minutes, meaning Kyla’s dedication to her craft is just as important as her work ethic. She’s an exceptional passer and should be one of the first off the recruiting board when mid June of next summer comes around.

It’s important to note that I’ve listed TWO liberi from PHP in this article, mostly because they play for two different age groups (both older than their own) for the same inaugural club. In Kyla’s case, the 16-1 libero is, without a doubt, in charge of everything that’s within ten feet of her, and will do anything and everything to make sure that her first contact is a good one. She’s even come to our showcase and earned her spot as the top defender from multiple scouts, this one included. Kyla’s trip to this spot in her early career was not easy, but with her skill set, work ethic and character, it will be simpler for her to keep hold of her top-notch talent.