Watch Out For These Five 2023 Middle Blockers!
With the abrupt halt and pause to our 2020 club season, players are missing out on valuable time in front of college coaches and on the court for development. Every college program has different recruiting needs and philosophies, but the rules…
Access all of Prep Dig
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingWith the abrupt halt and pause to our 2020 club season, players are missing out on valuable time in front of college coaches and on the court for development. Every college program has different recruiting needs and philosophies, but the rules have been altered in this pause. Since players aren’t getting to show off their skills, we will do our best to promote them! Expect these young athletes to make their way onto the radar for coaches at all levels.
Gwen Crull – 6’0 – McFarland – Balance 16’s
Crull is a beast at the net from the Madison area. She hits a variety of shots and runs different routes to keep the opposing blockers on their toes. Crull created issues for defenses during the 2019 high school state tournament. As a freshman, she rushed onto the high school scene for McFarland with 42 blocks. During the 2020 club season, Crull was dominating at the net for her Balance squad, who was taking a lot of teams by surprise. I would anticipate as a sophomore in 2020 she will build off her .302 hitting efficiency to be even more productive. If any coaches would like a long athletic blocker, add Crull to your list as a player to see!
[player_tooltip player_id="82899" first="Haylee" last="Soyk"]Haylee Soyk – 5’7 – Abbotsford – Wisconsin Ice 15 Purple
Soyk is a talented middle from the central Wisconsin area and has been blessed with athleticism. She came in and helped keep her high school team’s offense efficient in 2019, which is a big deal as a freshman. Soyk excels in front of her setter because she has good special awareness, vision, and cuts both ways very well around a block, making it difficult for opposing blockers to stop her. She makes smart adjustments and has the ability to commit one way just to turn and cut it back to the other side of the court. Soyk finds a way to make herself available as a hitter wherever the pass is. She is smaller for the middle position but finds a ton of success there at the high school and club level so far. She is also consistently one of the best passers and defenders on her teams, so she could be trained into a really solid pin hitter or defensive specialist. College coaches, keep an eye on her as she continues to develop.
Maddy McGath Maddy McGath MB Brookfield East | 2023 State WI – 6’0 – Brookfield East – Milwaukee Sting 15 Black
McGath is already solid at the net as a freshman, and you can expect her to just keep getting deadlier. She plays for one of the top clubs in Wisconsin, and this gave her the opportunity to play against tough national competition. McGath is currently still a hidden gem, but that shouldn’t last long with her athleticism and size. She possesses lateral agility and quick footwork to get from pin to pin as a blocker. McGath’s long arms and strong press make it hard for opponents to get the ball past her. She is definitely one to watch, and make sure to give her a look.
Megan Scholz – 6’1 – Tomahawk – Northern Wisconsin Stars
This big blocking middle from northern Wisconsin will wreak havoc on high school opponents, along with her 2022 counterpart, Katie Pierce (6’2 – Wisconsin Ice 16 Purple). Scholz has great timing and great vertical that helps her penetrate the net. She really uses her core when attacking, and you can tell that she has a strong drive. Scholz uses her long arms to seal the net, and she has the ability to close a split at the last second to demolish any hope a pin hitter may have had to get the ball past the block. I am looking forward to see how she develops with more training because she could be dynamic.
#10 [player_tooltip player_id="82906" first="Sydney" last="Bartels"]Sydney Bartels Sydney Bartels 5'11" | OH Freedom | 2023 State WI – 5’9 – Freedom – FC Elite 15 Navy
I love watching Bartels play because she always strikes at just the right time when you least expect her. She was a force in the middle for her talented FC Elite squad, and college coaches should definitely be taking notice of this young athlete. Bartels has great timing to score on quick attacks and drives hard into every approach. She runs a variety of routes, makes smart shots, and mixes them up making her so unpredictable. Bartels is not the biggest middle, but she is remarkably quick to close the block, and her body language shows how much fun she is having while working hard for her team!