December 8, 2022

Last week we released our Sophomore Player of the Candidates. This week, we present our Sophomore Player of the Year Finalists. The award winner is set to be announced the following week. We began with roughly 70 candidates and it should make sense that field gets much more defined as we narrowed it down to roughly about 15 finalists. Here’s what we are looking for in selecting our finalists and ultimately Player of the Year award. It contains three parts that are subjective by nature. One part measures the overall talent of a player. The next part takes into consideration the player’s overall impact on their team. The third part centers around the team’s overall success. In terms of Player of the Year finalists, it’s not impossible to make the list unless the player’s team won a state championship but it certainly helps. It’s a big country with lots of talented players and at the same time we wanted to introduce a factor that includes the team element. Winning a state title is prestigious accomplishment that is the pinnacle of every program around the country. A player’s impact on their team can be subjective. A player leading their team in their respective category – i.e. assists for setters, kills for setters or blocks for middles – is one type of impact and/or a key role they filled is another. Lastly, when it comes to a player’s overall talent, while it’s subjective as well, most can agree on who the top players are. Add all three together and these are what we are looking for. For example, Campbell Flynn of Mercy is an incredible 5-star recruit who had a tremendous impact on her team but Mercy didn’t advance far enough in our estimation for her to make the cut as a finalist. At last, we present our Sophomore Player of the Year Finalists. Cari Spears SO OH Prestonwood Christian TX: The Lions (40-1) – who only lost to Cornerstone Christian in the final of Volleypalooza and captured the TAPPS 5A state championship – without doubt proved they were one of the top teams in the country this fall. The addition of Spears – who moved back to Texas from Virginia – helped elevate Prestonwood to an elite level. The 6-3, 5-star recruit is a dynamic attacker, an instant game-changing pin with scary next-level potential and ability. On a team not lacking offense, she was the bonafide go-to hitter. She racked up a team-high 544 kills, averaging 4.9 per set while hitting a mind-blowing .477. On top of that, she was second in both blocks and aces and fourth in digs. Put it all together and Spears is among the leading finalists for POY. Charlotte Vinson SO OH Yorktown IN: What a season it was for Yorktown (34-3) and Vinson. The Tigers finished runner up in Indiana’s Class 4A state final, falling to Hamilton Southeastern in the championship. Vinson was a key piece this fall. The 6-1, 4-star recruit totaled a team-leading 466 kills. She averaged 4.3 per set, also tops on the team. She also made an impact from the service line, leading the roster with 64 aces. Given Vinson’s contributions and Yorktown’s overall season, Vinson is certainly a well-deserved finalist. Chloe Elarton SO S Valor Christian CO: The Eagles (29-0) went undefeated this fall and claimed Colorado’s 5A state championship. Elarton ran a well-balanced offense as four players finished between 253 and 165 kills. Elarton averaged 9.3 assists per set and finished the year with 784. She also chipped in with 59 aces – second on the team – and 205 digs, which was third. Ella Craggs SO S Northville MI: Though the Mustangs (47-4) finished runner up to Marian in Michigan’s Division 1 state final it was still an impressive fall. Northville was the only team to defeat Marian during the year and showed they were one of the top two teams in the state. Guiding the attack was Craggs, who tallied 1,180 assists and averaged 8.9 per set. She also averaged 2.2 digs. Though it would be somewhat of an upset for Craggs to win our POY award, she’s certainly deserving of being among the finalists and in the conversation as she had an amazing year. Izzy Busignani SO OH Marian MI: Busignani is another sophomore from Michigan in the mix for POY. She put together a great case for winning the award with a tremendous season. Marian (49-1) captured the Division 1 state title and Busignani played a key role in it. She led the team with 531 kills, averaging 4.4 per set and hitting .303. She also had 331 digs, averaging 2.7 per set. Lauren Hurst SO OH Cleveland TN: Given the year produced by Hurst, she has to be considered among the leading finalists for the award. The Blue Raiders (49-5) were the best in the state this fall, capturing Tennessee’s Division 1 3A state championship. Hurst had as big an impact as anyone. The 6-1, 4-star outside finished with a team-leading 649 kills. She averaged 4.4 per set. She was also second in digs with 354, averaging 2.4 per set. Moreover, she led the team in blocks with 61 and was second in both aces (94) and assists (73). Logan Parks SO S/RS Blue Valley North KS: Parks faces an uphill climb in the race as a finalist. She’s a rare finalist whose team didn’t make the state final. Blue Valley North finished third in the Kansas 6A state playoffs. Still, the 5-star recruit’s contributions couldn’t be overlooked as she contributed in a variety of ways. She was the go-to attacker, leading the way with 409 kills and averaging 4.8 per set. She also had 274 assists, averaging 3.2 per set. She also tied for the team lead in aces with 37 and was fourth in both digs (184) and blocks (47). Madison Quest SO OH DSHA WI: Quest – a 6-3, 4-star recruit – absolutely played her way into being a leading

Last week we released our Junior Player of the Candidates. This week, we present our Junior Player of the Year Finalists. The award winner is set to be announced the following week. We began with roughly 70 candidates and it should make sense that field gets much more defined as we narrowed it down to roughly about 15 finalists. Here’s what we are looking for in selecting our finalists and ultimately Player of the Year award. It contains three parts that are subjective by nature. One part measures the overall talent of a player. The next part takes into consideration the player’s overall impact on their team. The third part centers around the team’s overall success. In terms of Player of the Year finalists, it’s not impossible to make the list unless the player’s team won a state championship but it certainly helps. It’s a big country with lots of talented players and at the same time we wanted to introduce a factor that includes the team element. Winning a state title is prestigious accomplishment that is the pinnacle of every program around the country. A player’s impact on their team can be subjective but if a player didn’t lead their team in their respective category – i.e. assists for setters, kills for setters or blocks for middles – then it’s reasonable to suggest their contributions weren’t as impactful as someone else’s on the team. Though it’s not absolute, it certainly helps in this regard. Lastly, when it comes to a player’s overall talent, while it’s subjective as well, most can agree on who the top players are. Add all three together and these are what we are looking for. For example, despite being one of the best junior setters in the country, you won’t find Mira Costa’s Charlie Fuerbringer as a finalist. Likewise, Carlie Cisneros of Liberty North. Both are amazing players and their teams had strong seasons but they would not have won the Player of the Year award and thus didn’t make the cut as finalists. Some might view that as unfair but it’s the standard we’ve devised and we look to celebrate and highlight our junior players who did make it as a finalist. Alex Acevedo JR OH Skyview ID: The Hawks (22-5) captured Idaho’s 4A state championship that was part of challenging schedule. Included in the adventures this fall were matches against Utah’s eventual 5A runner-up Mountain View and eventual 6A state champ Lone Peak, as well as participating in the Durango Fall Classic and the Geico Invitational, where Skyview played eventual Nebraska Class A state champ Papillion-LaVista South. The Oregon commit Acevedo brought a terminal hitter to the lineup as she powered the offense by averaging 4.7 kills per set and hitting .421. Alex Bower JR S Skyview ID: Bower – a BYU commit – turned in an impressive season as well in helping Skyview achieve the success it did. Bower is a high-IQ setter with the ability to make tough sets out of position and it’s difficult envisioning the Hawks having the year they did without her. She averaged 9.3 assists per set. Amanda Saeger JR S Cathedral Catholic CA: By now everyone probably knows about the dominant season the Dons had, finishing undefeated and only losing one set all season as they finished on top of our national rankings. Saeger – a DePaul commit – was a key figure, connecting well with a variety of hitters as the Dons utilized multiple lineups within matches. When senior outside Julia Blyashov missed the state playoffs with a sprained ankle, the Dons didn’t skip a beat in part due to the adjustments made by Saeger and running a different style offense more reliant on the right side attack with Noemie Glover. Ellie White JR OH Mother McAuley IL: White is committed to Michigan as a 4-star setter but she’s an outside in high school and helped carry the Mighty Macs to an amazing season. Mother McAuley (39-3) plays in the biggest division in state plus participates in two of the most challenging tournaments in the country in the Louisville Invitational Volleyball Tournament and Asics Challenge, which the Macs host. Mother McAuley captured both tournament titles in the same season for the first time in program history, as well as took home the 4A state championship. That White was so critical to the success and played at such a high level makes her one of the leading finalists. She finished with 542 kills, averaging 5.9 per set. She also averaged 3.1 digs and 1.1 blocks per set. Jadyn Livings JR OH Prestonwood Christian TX: The Lions went 40-1 this fall, with their only loss to Cornerstone Christian in the final of Volleypalooza. The successful year included the TAPPS 5A state championship. Livings – USC commit – left her imprint to the tune of averaging 3.5 kills per set and hitting .348. She was also second in digs with 324, averaging 2.9 per set, and third in blocks with 55. Kenslee McGowan JR S Cleveland TN: The season started off remarkably well for the Blue Raiders (43-5). Despite a couple bumps along the way they still fought their way to the Tennessee Division 1 3A state championship. McGowan was certainly a key ingredient in the season’s recipe. She directed an attack that hit .281 overall on the season as she totaled 1,256 assists, averaging 8.5 per set. She was also the team leader in aces with 131 and averaged 1.8 digs per set. Kiarrah Horne JR OH Millbrook NC: Millbrook lost a mid-September match to Middle Creek and that was it as the Wildcats went 29-1 in 2022. It was capped by winning the 4A state championship. To say Horne had an impact would be a tremendous understatement. She was unstoppable, putting up a team-leading 522 kills and averaging 5.7 per set. She also hit an unbelievable .455. The 4-star recruit was also second in aces with 44, second in digs with 220 and third in