Wayne State Elite Camp: Standouts from Nebraska
WAYNE – Wayne State College has been ranked in the AVCA Top 25 in Division II every year since 2006 and has ranked in the top 15 in Division II in average home attendance for nine straight seasons, so it’s…
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Continue ReadingWAYNE – Wayne State College has been ranked in the AVCA Top 25 in Division II every year since 2006 and has ranked in the top 15 in Division II in average home attendance for nine straight seasons, so it’s no wonder the school in the northeast part of Nebraska regularly draws some of the top prospects in the region to its Elite Camp.
Monday was no exception, as roughly 150 athletes attending the camp, hoping to catch the attention of the Wayne State coaching staff. I certainly can’t speak for any of the coaches, but here are some of the players that caught my attention during the first day.
Abby Plouzek – Waverly
Plouzek hasn’t really been a household name, which will happen when you play at Dorchester. But, that should all change soon. She’s a 6’3 middle that is going to play her senior season at Waverly, which should put her in the spotlight since the Vikings will be one of the best teams in the state regardless of class this season.
A number of Division I programs have been curious about Plouzek and shown some real interest – including Power 5 Conference teams – and she has made tremendous improvements in her game every year, as she showed in Wayne. We have her ranked as the #17 overall prospect in the 2020 Class. She’s getting stronger and more agile, but no matter where she ends up she likely needs a couple years before she can make an impact at a Division I or top-tier DII program. Not only is she tall, but she is long and her blocking is legit right now. She’s got to be close to touching 10-feet. Once her agility/athleticism and strength catches up to the rest of her body, she will have a very bright future.
Lauren Pick – Wayne
A 6-foot middle, Pick is ranked as the #39 player in the 2021 Class. Pick won’t wow anyone with any particular aspect of her game, but she is a very solid, consistent performer that projects well for a NAIA or 2-Year College program. She gets good extension over the net and is probably touching just a little over 9-feet. She passes well for for a middle on balls hit at her.
Grace Langemeier – Nebraska Christian
One of the first things I did after the camp was make a note that we have Langemeier ranked way too low in our rankings. She’s an athletic 5’11 that is easily touching over 9’6 and is probably somewhere between that at 10’0. She comes from an athletic family – her father was a walk-on tight end for Nebraska in the early 90s – and it shows. She reminds me a little of an unpolished Kelsey Green, who was a standout at Elkhorn South and is having a really good career at Regis University.
Langemeier probably projects as a good fit at the NAIA level and could potentially work at some Division II programs, but her back row play isn’t quite as refined as it would need to be to make an immediate impact at the next level. But, she’s going to be a high-motor, high-character type that many a program would like to have.
Sydney Redden – Wayne
Redden is a kid that simply impressed me more and more as the day went on. A 5’4 libero, she’s ranked as the #42 overall recruit in the 2022 Class. Redden’s footwork and platform are strong and she moves really well laterally with a low center of gravity. I’m not sure I saw a ball eat her up at all on the day and you can tell from watching her that it’s doubtful a brick wall would stop her pursuit of a ball.
Samantha Riggs of Papio and Estella Zatechka of Elkhorn South are still the cream of the crop for liberos in the 2022 group, but Redden looks to be at the top of the second tier of liberos and is going to be a very good college player for someone. She’s definitely going to be rising in the rankings.
Regan Wondercheck – Malcolm
Wondercheck is your prototypical well-rounded athlete that plays volleyball. She isn’t among the 55 players we currently have ranked in the 2022 Class, but she is definitely on the radar now. She started to earn more playing time late in her freshman season last fall for the Clippers, but at 5’7-ish she doesn’t really have a natural position.
That having been said, though, she does everything really well and is athletic enough to play at the net at her height at the Class C-1 level, but in order to play at the NAIA or 2-Year College level in the future – barring a huge growth spurt – she’s going to have to carve out a niche as a plus-plus defender and passer that could potentially attack from the back row or do a rotation or two at the net in a pinch.
Adi Meyer – Wisner-Pilger
Another sophomore-to-be that is not ranked among the 55 we have in the Class of 2022, but that will change. She’s got good height for a setter – right around 5’8 or so – and easily athleticism to go with soft hands and some good strength. She sat behind a senior setter last season and still has quite a bit of work to do in order to be consistent with her placement and accuracy on all her sets, but you can definitely see the potential she has.
Kiara Krusemark – Wayne
Another of the home town standouts from the camp, Krusemark is a diminutive setter that would need to find a college program committed to a two-setter offense, but there is a lot to like about her abilities. In her freshman season for the Blue Devils, she had 482 assists and 172 digs and despite her size – maybe 5’4 or 5’5 – she has really strong and soft hands and is able to make all the sets – and she sets a really soft ball.
Other athletes that had a good day of camp that I took note of.
Anna Gideon – Burwell
Lauren Pfeifer – Humphrey St. Francis
Abby Everett – O’Neil St. Mary’s
Anna Borner – DC West
Meredith McGregor – Hartington Cedar Catholic
Gracen Evans – Ponca
Claire Gideon – Burwell
Kayden Jueden – Hartington-NewCastle
Ariel Fye – Randolph
Alyssa Bucholz – Bancroft-Rosalie
Carissa Wacker – Platteview