By the Red River: Round Rock, TX is the Proving Ground for Elite Red Prospects

Since we are by the mighty Red River, we picked the Elite Red Prospects as our focus group, and man, are they a talented bunch.

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The Elite Red Proving Ground is in Austin:

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Gracie White - MB Dallas Skyline Elite Red (mid)

White has solid TOP #s in all of her Physical tests: 75”, 116”, and 123” on her approach touch. Honestly, we just don’t know a lot about her yet (select camps or achievements/awards), so it will be great watching her live and in action vs. some of the best in the nation this weekend. How does she do head-to-head?

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Piper Pease - Opposite - Alamo Elite Red (mid)

Pease caught some attention at Nationals last season and during camp season. She dominated the camp season of the Elite Red/Red programs. She is physical. Now we see if she has improved her athleticism and explosion in the off-season to make a jump to more elite levels to catch the eye of Silver and High Silver schools in her 16s year. Also, does her approach touch improve, and how high does she play?

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Summer Tukua - Outside - WAVE Elite Red (mid)

This will be a great chance to evaluate Tukua vs. the tops in Texas and get a true evaluation for a few reasons. One WAVE is a program that doesn’t let its athletes talk about their recruitment very much once their season starts, so you won’t get much out of her about where she is looking or schools looking at her. Also, Cali schools just don’t get as much attention when they are playing back home, so this is a great proving ground for WAVE athletes.

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Julia Clarke - Middle - A5 - Elite Red - (upper mid)

So pumped to watch Clarke follow up her NTDP performance with her actual team. Red level prospect camps last summer, but she is an Elite Red prospect FOR NOW, and we feel she has Silver level potential. It will be interesting to see Clarke test her athleticism vs. some of the most athletic middles in the country this weekend. Plus, Kentucky is there and haven’t they taken the past 2-3 middles from her club?

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Charli Niu - Setter - Austin Jrs - (upper mid)

We don’t know a ton of Charli’s physical stats, as she doesn’t have a player profile yet, but she is 6’2” and physical. She is another coming off an impressive NTDP and needs to get her name out to more colleges, other than the ones that work NTDP. This is a talented setter who simply hasn’t received much pub over the past couple of years. We are just excited to watch her battle vs. the other top setters in this tourney and watch how she does head-to-head. Can she move up to the Silver level? Or is Elite Red a perfect fit for the Austin native?

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Trinity Johnson - Outside - TAV Elite Red (upper)

One of the OH’s on the Dream Team at TAV, it will be fun watching the 5’11” Johnson and how she fits into the squad.

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Morgan Nesloney - Libero - TAV Elite Red (upper)

We have watched quite a bit of Nesloney film in the off-season, so it will be great watching her live again. She trains hard and she should have some protection in front of her, that being said not sure how often she will be truly exposed, but excited to see her competing and how all of her training pays off. She is a good one.

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Landry McCrae - Setter - Excel - (upper)

McCrae should be an interesting Case Study. Very polarizing in the “ranking sites” and has been highly decorated at the prep level. It will be interesting to see how and if that all translates to the open club level in the same way. Again, this is a very deep setter class.

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Sydney Whisenton - Setter/OH - Alamo - Elite Red (Mid)

Speaking of high prep success translating to the open club level, I bring on Sydney Whisenton and bring on the first real “does size matter” debaters of the 2028 class. One famous website even named her as their player of the year, and others don’t have her in their Top 150 athletes. She is 5’9”, but skis with a block of 115” and an approach of 121”.

The problem with this is that we evaluate on your college projection, and if you are 5’9”, you can only jump so high, and that block is so much higher.

So it will be interesting to see how she does at the open level this weekend vs. some of the best in America and some of the biggest blocks she will see. That will always be the question. Not if she can be good, but can she be really good at the college level?

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Olivia Kitur - Outside - Madfrog - Elite Red (Mid)

Kitur, another strong OH in the class, who is right at 6’ and will be playing on the Madfrog squad. We need to watch closely. She doesn’t have a Player Profile yet, so we don’t know many specifics about her, but she is a 6-rotation OH who does the little things well and can play up at the high elevations already.

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Mali Nyankori - Middle - A5 - Elite Red - (Mid)

Nyankori is a bit undersized at 6’1” but quick and has hops. Loves the slide and gets up fast on her block. Another thing we need to really hone in on is that she doesn’t have a profile.

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Kyra Bolden - Outside - Peak VB - Elite Red - (Mid)

Bolden is another in this “Pack of OH’s” that has a chance to really separate to a high level of the Elite Red category with a great weekend.

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Macie Chase - Setter - Houston Jrs - Elite Red (Lower)

Chase leads the talented Houston Jrs attack. Long and aggressive in her game. Attended several camps over the summer. Vocal in running the offense. Great test for her off the bat to see where her game is at vs. the best in the region.

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Caitlin Carrizales - Libero - TAV - Elite Red (Lower)

Another solid defender playing for TAV. Carrizales should get plenty of eyes on her on that court. How will her serve receive game be, and will she get any time as the bro?

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Piper Coady - Outside - T Street - Elite Red (Low)

Playing OH for T Street a popular name in the recruiting game lately. Piper is stronger than her older sister, with more of a vertical game. Can she play physical, and can she show improved passing and be more aggressive in her all-around game vs. the Texas teams this weekend to improve her college evaluation score?

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Janie Myers - Setter - A5 - Red (High)

Myers will have many college eyes on her every weekend, setting for the A5. She will have pressure, but also plenty of opportunities to impress many programs. What is her composure like? How does she do with ball distribution with so many different high-level options? What is her ball placement and accuracy like, and how consistent is she? Janie has an excellent shot at moving her stock up, up, up.