Texas players dominate 2021 VolleyballMag.com Fab 50, Huskers have the biggest haul
Best of the Best
Mike Miazga
May 8, 2021
When it comes to the 2021 VolleyballMag.com Girls Fab 50 list (by the way, the longest-running national girls volleyball rankings), the state of Texas and the University of Nebraska rule the roost.
The Lone Star State placed eight players in our Fab 50 rankings, edging fellow sport hotbed California by one and outdistancing Nebraska by three.
The annual VolleyballMag.com Girls Fab 50 list features the top 50 senior-age players in the country based on voting by an elite panel of NCAA Division I women’s volleyball coaches. VolleyballMag.com staff has no input in the rankings.
But when it comes to college recruits on this year’s list, coach John Cook’s Nebraska Huskers have six selections, two better than recently crowned NCAA champion Kentucky.
A total of 26 colleges are Fab 50 represented, while players on this year’s list come from 21 states.
Looking at clubs, Texas-based TAV tops things with four of its players earning Fab 50 designation. Georgia-based A5 and Premier Nebraska each had three players reach the gold standard.
Each year VolleyballMag.com asks the voting panel to rank the top five players in the country and Nebraska signee Lindsay Krause was the clear-cut winner, outdistancing San Diego-area product and Stanford recruit Samantha Francis by 18 voting points. Krause’s designation as the top recruit in the country and Fab 50 chart-topper follows her selection as the fall 2020 VolleyballMag.com girls high school player of the year.
Kennedi Orr, from the Twin Cities suburbs and headed to Nebraska, was third, while fellow inbound Husker Ally Batenhorst out of the Houston area was fourth and Southern California standout and Stanford signee Kami Miner took the fifth spot.
As custom, we also asked the panel to vote for 25 underclassmen to watch and that list also appears on VolleyballMag.com.
Another neat stat we like to keep track of each year: 24 of last year’s 25 Underclassmen to Watch list graduated to this year’s main Fab 50 list. The 25th (Sports Performance’s Ella Wrobel), is again part of the underclass presentation, given she was a sophomore last year.
Ally Batenhorst
2021 VOLLEYBALLMAG.COM GIRLS FAB 50 Name, Height Position, High School, Club, College Tyrah Ariail, 6-0, MB, Lebanon Trail (Frisco, Texas), TAV, USC Ally Batenhorst, 6-4, OH, Seven Lakes (Katy, Texas), Houston Juniors, Nebraska Merritt Beason, 6-3, OH, Gardendale (Alabama), Southern Performance, Florida Eleanor Beavin, 5-6, L-DS, Mercy (Louisville, Kentucky), Union, Kentucky Jacque Boney,6-4, MB, Marist (Atlanta, Georgia), A5, Michigan Jahara Campbell, 6-0, OH, Hamilton (Chandler, Arizona), AZ Storm, Colorado Raven Colvin, 6-1, MB, Heritage Christian (Dyer, Indiana), The Academy, Purdue Arica Davis, 6-2, MB, North Raleigh Christian (Raleigh, NC), NC Academy, Ohio State Gabrielle Essix, 6-4, MB,Hoover (Alabama), Southern Performance, Florida Samantha Francis, 6-5, MB-OH, La Jolla (California) Country Day, COAST, Stanford Natalie Glenn, 5-10, OH-RS,Southlake (Texas) Carroll, TAV, Minnesota Elle Glock, 6-0, S, Wahoo (Nebraska), VC Nebraska, USC Rylee Gray, 6-4, MB, Elkhorn (Nebraska) South, Nebraska Elite, Nebraska Kalissa Greene, 6-0, S,Fulton Science Academy (Alpharetta, Georgia), A5, Stanford Emma Grome, 5-9, S, St. Ursula (Cincinnati, Ohio), Tri-State, Kentucky
Reagan Hope
Reagan Hope, 6-2, MB-OH,Northwest Christian (Phoenix, Arizona), AZ Storm, Oregon Ali Hornung,5-9, OH-Libero, Providence (Clarksville, Indiana), Union, Purdue Jordan Iliff,6-1, RS,Mehlville (St. Louis, Missouri), Rockwood Thunder, Missouri Ngozi Iloh, 6-1, MB, McIntosh (Peachtree City, Georgia), A5, Duke Lauren Jardine, 6-1, OH, Lone Peak (Highland, Utah), Club V, Wisconsin Bre Kelley, 6-3, MB, Rockwall-Heath (Rockwell, Texas), Excel, Florida Lindsay Krause, 6-3, OH, Skutt Catholic (Omaha, Nebraska), Premier Nebraska, Nebraska Erin Lamb, 6-2, OH, Stewartville (Minnesota), Northern Lights, Kentucky Whitney Lauenstein, 6-0, OH, Waverly (Nebraska), VC Nebraska, Nebraska Charitie Luper, 5-8, OH, Byron Nelson (Trophy Club, Texas), TAV, UCLA Eve Magill, 6-5, OH, Xavier (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), Six Pack, Creighton Kami Miner, 6-1, S-RS, Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, California), Long Beach, Stanford
Brooke Mosher
Brooke Mosher, 6-0, S-OH, Waterloo (Wisconsin), FC Elite, Illinois Rachel Muisenga, 6-1, S, Benet Academy (Lisle, Illinois), Adversity, Penn State Colby Neal, 6-3, MB, Poway (California), COAST, Oregon Aubrey O’Gorman, 6-3, MB, Lakewood (Lake Odessa, Michigan), FaR Out, Michigan State Kennedi Orr, 6-0, S, Eagan (Minnesota), Northern Lights, Nebraska Lexi Rodriguez, 5-7, L-DS, Sterling (Illinois), Fusion, Nebraska Phyona Schrader, 6-0, S, Ankney (Iowa), Premier Nebraska, Notre Dame Mabrey Shaffmaster, 6-1, OH,New Castle (Indiana), Munciana, North Carolina Riley Simpson, 6-3, OH, Rampart (Colorado Springs, Colorado), Colorado Juniors, Baylor Taylor Simpson, 6-0, S,Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, California), San Gabriel Elite, Colorado Norah Sis, 6-2, OH, Papillion-LaVista (Papillion, Nebraska), Premier Nebraska, Creighton Katie Smith, 6-2, MB, Aliso Niguel (Aliso Viejo, California), Tstreet, USC Anjelina Starck, 6-2, RS-S, Rampart (Colorado Springs), Colorado Juniors, Penn State Elyse Stowell, 6-1 OH, Esperanza (Anaheim, California), Tstreet, BYU Sydney Taylor, 5-9, Libero-DS, Bishop Watterson (Columbus, Ohio), Mintonette, Ohio State Paris Thompson, 6-2, OH, Fort Myers (Florida), FL Gulfside, Notre Dame Kendra Wait, 5-10, S, Gardner-Edgerton (Gardner, Kansas), MAVS, Creighton Sarah White, 6-0, S, Seneca Valley (Harmony, Pennsylvania), Pittsburgh Elite, Ohio State Erika Williams, 6-1, MB,Kingwood Park (Kingwood, Texas), Houston Juniors, Penn State Jordyn Williams, 6-2, MB, Guyer (Denton, Texas), TAV, Kentucky Starr Williams,6-3, OH,Colony (Ontario, California), Long Beach, Long Beach State Anna Wolf, 6-3, MB, River Falls (Wisconsin), MN Select, Minnesota Cimone Woodard, 6-3, MB-OH, Episcopal (Bellaire, Texas), Houston Skyline, Howard
Lindsay Krause
Top 5 Players in the Class of 2021 1. Lindsay Krause (Nebraska) 2. Samantha Francis (Stanford) 3. Kennedi Orr (Nebraska) 4. Ally Batenhorst (Nebraska) 5. Kami Miner (Stanford)
