State Ranking 2023 Stock Risers – Aug Update Vol 2
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We are proud of our third update to the 2023 Class as we have now grown to 140 of the best athletes that this state has to offer and the following players have made some serious moves on the list. It…
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Continue ReadingWe are proud of our third update to the 2023 Class as we have now grown to 140 of the best athletes that this state has to offer and the following players have made some serious moves on the list. It is through their play during this past season that has helped us decide who should be where on the rankings. We always say that it is not an exact science, however proving it on the court in their position always helps solidify the analysis. We will be profiling players who were previously ranked in the state, but through great play, they made some serious moves up the rankings. Without further ado, here are a few players who moved up:
Sydney Jordan Sydney Jordan 6'3" | OH Ridge Point | 2023 State #44 Nation TX [2023] 6-3 Outside (HS: Ridge Point/Club: Houston Juniors/Verbal: Uncommitted)
Sydney has moved up our rankings to be named the 2nd best overall prospect in the 2023 class and 2nd best outside hitter. We profiled her last year and here is a little of what was said, “Six rotation outside hitter for a very talented Houston Juniors team that garnered a fifth place Open division finish at last years USAV Nationals is someone to watch. She is moving up the polls in the 2023 class and has college coaches keeping tabs. At a towering six foot three inches tall, she still hits the ball at a very high contact point, which makes it very difficult to slow down. When crunch time comes, I would definitely call her number to get the set. It’s a guaranteed kill if an overpass comes in her zone. There are very few weaknesses in her game at this young age and it is very nice to see someone of her size playing all the way around. This will translate into some beautiful playing for some college in the future.” We were able to watch her this summer at GJNC and she was outstanding in her overall performance over the course of the weekend. She can do it all on the court and will “wow” anyone who watches. We love her natural power and ability to hit the ball anywhere she wants to. She is one huge reason why Ridge Point is dominating this year. She has been unstoppable. Please help us congratulate her on being named the second best player in the entire state.
Stephanie Gutierrez Stephanie Gutierrez 6'1" | OH Boswell | 2023 State #157 Nation TX [2023] 6-1 Middle/Right Side (HS: Boswell/Club: Texas Advantage/ Verbal: Uncommitted)
Stephanie has moved up from being the 13th top player to now be named as the 5th best overall prospect in the 2023 Class according to our Prep Dig State Rankings. We had wrote about Stephanie a few times last year and here is a little from the articles, “She is a very polished middle blocker for her age that plays out of the North Texas area. She plays very big above the net and is a great defender and an even better attacker. We have her ranked pretty high on our rankings and believe she is the real deal. She hits every set on the middle spectrum and is able to score in a variety of ways with each. I love how strong her upper body is at such a young age. She has such a high ceiling within the position, which means she is going to get a lot better over the years. She reaches high when attacking and gives her setters a great target. I love how ready she is to attack on quick sets, but she excels in her slide the most. If she is this comfortable running the one foot take-off at an early age, the volleyball world better watch out because Stephanie is coming for ya. We are excited that we get to watch her grow in the sport for the next three years. Miss Gutierrez really stepped up and became a force for her Boswell high school program this season. She had 126 kills and 54 total blocks while hitting an astounding .283 as a sophomore. She was named District 3-6A Co-Blocker of the year. We are happy for her progress and are excited that we get to cover her for the next few years. Please congratulate her on moving up the rankings.” This past year she played for Texas Advantage and we were able to watch her in action at the USA Junior Nationals in Vegas. Her power and natural athletic abilities are eye catching to every spectator in attendance. She is so smooth when patrolling the net to block her opponents. I loved watching her penetration on the net as she sealed it perfectly over and over to stifle opposing hitters. She very quickly has become one of the best middles in her age group and the scary part is I don’t think she has reached her potential yet. We think she is a BEAST middle and will love covering her over the next two years. Please help us congratulate her on being named a top five player in the entire Lone Star State.
Brooke Bentke Brooke Bentke 6'2" | OH Brenham | 2023 State #112 Nation TX [2023] 6-2 Outside (HS: Brenham/Club: Houston Skyline/Verbal: Uncommitted)
Miss Bentke has done it again! She has moved up the rankings and has now been named as the 9th top overall prospect and the 4th best outside in the State of Texas according to our Prep Dig Rankings in the class of 2023. We have profiled her a couple of times already and will likely write a few more articles as she is just tearing it up on the court since we introduced her last summer. We have previously stated, “She is a lengthy six rotation pin hitter who is the “go-to” scorer for her talented Woodlands Revolution club squad. She can light it up with the best of them as she scores at will in a variety of ways. Most players at this age, need almost a perfect set to score. Not Brooke. When the set is inside or off, she can still adjust her approach accordingly and still have the timing to hit with power. She can find the hole in the block, she can swing around it and go line, and she has so much power that she can tool the block at will. Standing at six foot two, she is a towering presence at the net against her opponents. For most tall blockers, they don’t load up much to jump and block. My favorite thing about Brooke is how she still bends her knees and loads up so much to block. This tells me that she has a passion for the game that not many have. Brooke has the potential to move up our rankings very rapidly if she stays on her course. We cannot wait to see how she does in her high school varsity season.” Last month we profiled her once again and updated our readers on her high school season. In that article we said, “She has been nothing short of spectacular since she burst onto the scene for Brenham. She was one of the main reasons they went 19-6 overall and 10-4 in district. The Cubbettes also had a deep run into the UIL State Playoffs due to her play. In only two years on varsity she has amassed a whopping 715 kills, hit an impressive .333 percentage, had 66 blocks, 89 aces, and 621 digs. This young lady will obliterate the record books by the time she is done with her high school career. We will be updating on her Woodlands Revolution club season soon. College coaches already have her on their radar and I’m sure that list is growing for her as they watch what she can do. The scary part for her opponents is that she is only going to get better with more experience. Watch closely as she shoots up our rankings soon. We were not wrong about shooting up the rankings. When we analyzed the growth that she is showing from year to year and even from school season to club season, the growth is phenomenal. We are excited to see what her and her Woodlands Revolution squad will do in Vegas as they have recently qualified for USA Nationals this summer.” I don’t think anything can slow this young lady down as she is on fire. Her stock continues to rise based on her play on the court. No one can say that she has not earned every accolade that comes her way. We watched this summer at GJNC and she was phenomenal. It seems that every time she takes the court, she gets better and better. She is still leading her high school team in kills in every match they play. What I loved the most when I watched her this summer in person is the relentless pursuit of the ball in the back row. She is the total package. Now she just joined a phenomenal Houston Skyline program for the coming club year and we couldn’t be more excited. Please help us congratulate her on being named a top ten player in the state of Texas.
Stay tuned for more articles on your favorite athletes. If you have anyone you think we should watch out for, please shoot me an email with some info at nov8vb@yahoo.com. Also don’t forget to help these kids get more exposure by sharing our stories with your friends. Help us help them by simply retweeting on Twitter or sharing on Facebook. Thanks for following Texas Family!