Team USA Rooks Make Big PPV Jumps

There were few surprises Sunday as USA Volleyball named the roster for the U19 National Team to participate in the upcoming international competition.  Most of the familiar faces were on the roster once again.  This time there were however three deserving first-timers who are suiting up to wear the Red, White and Blue for Team USA.

Blair Thiebaud (Setter-Louisville verbal), Gabi Rodriquez (Libero-Texas A+M verbal) and Taylor Stanley (Opposite-Kansas) all earned their way onto the roster during tryouts at Colorado Springs this past weekend.  With the selection and previous performances each has also received deserving bumps in their PPV scores, moving each prospect up to another recruiting level.

Thiebaud: The Texas native has had quite the month, both winning a National Open Division Title and now making Team USA.  This results in a mega jump for the Louisville recruit and moving her to the tips of the Silver level and the verge of Gold.  We have talked on Blair's impressive year since seeing her at the Final Four and NTDP in later December and it continues.

Rodriquez: Small in stature, but not in skill Rodriquez continues to show the right people at USA Volleyball that she is legit and moving up their charts.  Another prospect, like Thiebaud, that moves up into the heart of the Silver Level and adds a large # to her overall PPV score, but she continues to go head to head with top bros in the class and matches up very, very well.  What an honor for Rodriquez who wasn't getting a ton of love from recruiting services early in her process to be moving on to Team USA.

Stanley: There hasn't been an athlete in the Class of 2026 that has shown more steady and high-end growth than Stanley since last April.  Being quite honest you simply don't see stories like hers very often.  Really thought of as a "solid recruit" and a "good local verbal" for the previous Kansas staff when she committed.  I was always a fan simply because I had interviewed her often and knew she had not been totally healthy and able to train and liked her as great kid.  But Stanley has exploded earning a UA All-American Invite and now a spot on the Team USA u19 team.  The new KU staff has to just be high-fiving themselves that they didn't do something really dumb and let her go when they took over in January.  What a gift to start your program.  Anyway she bumps up to Gold and deserves it.  She started as a Red prospect 18 months ago.

Best of luck to all 3 of these Class of '26s and their teammates.  A very talented group who we can't wait to see compete against eachother for years in the NCAA.