This year’s VolleyballMag.com Girls Fab 50 is large in a lot of ways.
For starters, it’s the largest voting panel of NCAA Division I coaches we’ve had for the Fab 50 girls rankings. We continue the tradition of listing the top players in the nation as we enter the fourth decade off what used to be Volleyball magazine and is now Volleyballmag.com.
And as usual two of the biggest states in the land, Texas and California, landed the most players on the list. The Lone Star State led with nine entries on the Fab 50, while California was right behind with eight.
A total of 21 states are represented, while 40 clubs (another impressive large number) had at least one player from their outfit make the Fab 50, continuing the demonstration of just how rich in talent this sport continues to be across the country.
On the club front, Texas Image out of Grand Prairie, Texas, leads with three entries on the Fab 50 with Molly Phillips (Texas), Azhani Tealer (Kentucky) and Audrey Nalls (TCU). Runners-up status goes to KiVA, Houston Juniors, MN Select, Mintonette, Carolina Union, NORCO and Sunshine with two each.
Stanford had the most Fab 50 recruits this time around with five, with Purdue, Ohio State, Nebraska and Oregon coming in strong with three each. Will these four find their way to the top of the VolleyballMag.com women’s recruiting class rankings that will follow in several weeks? Stay tuned.
While we’re talking about large, how about 22 players getting at least one vote in the top-five players in the class of 2019 rankings?
Texas signee Skylar Fields is the No. 1 recruit in the class with Stanford recruit Kendall Kipp solidly entrenched in the No. 2 spot and Caitie Baird, another Kevin Hambly signee at Stanford, at No. 3. Fields had the most first-place votes among the panel of NCAA coaches with Kipp and Baird close behind in that category. Nebraska recruit Madi Kubik checks in at No. 4 on this list, while Selina Xu is fifth, giving Stanford three of the top five recruits in the class. That may already answer the question as to who will have the No. 1 recruiting class here.
We also present our annual look at 25 of the top underclassmen to watch in the country, many of which graduate to our big list the following year. Top vote-getters on this list include the likes of TAV middle blocker Annabelle Smith, teammate and Texas commit Madison Williams and Sports Performance outside hitter and Minnesota commit Taylor Landfair (from south-Chicago-suburban Plainfield Central High School), along with Texas commit Naomi Cabello (setter from Florida-based Top Select).
2019 VolleyballMag.com Girls Fab 50
(Name, Height, Pos, High School, Club, College)
Julia Adams, 6-2 OH, Plano (Texas), Dallas Summit, TCU
Anita Anwusi, 6-3, MB, Alief Hastings (Houston, Texas), Houston Juniors, LSU
Izzy Ashburn, 5-11, S, Champlin Park (Minnesota), MN Select, Wisconsin
Caitie Baird, 6-3, OH, Perry Meridian (Indianapolis, Indiana), Circle City, Stanford
Natalie Berty, 6-3, OH, Mater Dei (Santa Ana, California), Momentous, Stanford
Morgan Christon, 6-2, OH, Allen (Texas), TAV, Kansas
Lauren Clark, 6-0, OH, Champlin Park (Minnesota), MN Select, Penn State
AnnaMarie Dodson, 6-5, MB, Rocky Mountain (Fort Collins, Colorado), NORCO, UCLA
Emma Ellis, 6-2, OH, Charlotte (North Carolina) Catholic, Carolina Union, Purdue
Sydney Ferguson, 6-3, OH, North Stafford (Stafford, Virginia), VA Juniors, Penn State
Skylar Fields, 6-2, OH, Ridge Point (Missouri City, Texas), Houston Juniors, Texas
Grace Frohling, 6-5 RS-S, Marymount (Los Angeles, California), Sunshine, San Diego
Gabby Gonzales, 6-4, OH, Walton (Marietta, Georgia), A5, Ohio State
Kate Grimmer, 6-1, RS, Queen Creek (Arizona), AZ Storm, BYU
Kayleigh Hames, 6-1, OH, Webb School (Knoxville, Tennessee), K2, Pepperdine
Ellie Holzman, 6-2 OH-MB, Mount Carmel Academy (New Orleans, La.), WD Nation, Illinois
Madison Horin, 6-3, MB, Munster (Indiana), 1st Alliance, USC
Skyy Howard, 6-2, MB, Mallard Creek (Charlotte, N.C.), Carolina Union, North Carolina
Ellie Husemann, 6-4, MB, Eagan (Minnesota), Northern Lights, Minnesota
Kendall Kipp, 6-4 MB-OH, Corona del Mar (Newport Beach, Calif.), Laguna Beach, Stanford
Maddie Koch, 6-2, OH, Ashwaubenon (Wisconsin), WVA, Purdue
Kenzie Knuckles, 5-7, Libero, Yorktown (Indiana), NA, Nebraska
Madi Kubik, 6-1, OH, Valley (West Des Moines, Iowa), Iowa PowerPlex, Nebraska
Alex Laita, 6-1, OH, Palisades Charter (Pacific Palisades, California), Sunshine, Oregon
Morgan Lewis, 6-3, RS-MB, La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad, California), WAVE, Oregon
Kara McGhee, 6-4, MB, Clark (San Antonio, Texas), San Antonio Magic, Baylor
Emma Monks, 6-2, MB, Assumption (Louisville, Kentucky), KIVA, Michigan State
Kylie Murr, 5-4, Libero, Yorktown (Indiana), Munciana, Ohio State
Audrey Nalls, 6-1, OH, Waxahachie (Texas), TX Image, TCU
Camille Nazor, 6-1, Setter, Assumption (Louisville, Kentucky), KiVA, Duke
Onye Ofoegbu, 6-3, MB, Poly (Long Beach, California), Long Beach, UC Irvine
Kalen Owes, 6-2, OH, Desert Vista (Phoenix, Arizona), AZ East Valley, USC
Molly Phillips, 6-4 MB-OH, Mansfield (Texas), TX Image, Texas
Machaela Podraza, 6-2, S, Big Walnut (Sunbury, Ohio), Mintonette, Ohio State
Megan Renner, 6-2, S, Linn-Mar (Marion, Iowa), Iowa Rockets, Purdue
Jessica Robinson, 6-2 OH-MB, Troy (Michigan), Legacy, Michigan
Shea Rubright, 6-5, MB, West Valley (Yakima, Washington), CRU, Minnesota
Treyaunna Rush, 6-1, RS, Texas (Texarkana, Texas), Untouchables, Texas A&M
Sophie Summers, 6-3, MB, Sunset (Beaverton, Oregon), N. Pacific Jrs., Washington
Zhani Tealer, 5-10, RS-OH, South Grand Prairie (Grand Prairie, Texas), TX Image, Kentucky
Temitayo Thomas-Ailara, 6-2, OH, Marian Cath. (Chi.Heights, Ill.), Michio Chicago, Northwestern
Amaya Tillman, 6-2, MB, Shawnee Heights (Tecumseh, Kansas), Mavs, Louisville
Gracie Van Driel, 6-1, MB, Rose Hill (Kansas), Fight Club, Kansas
Savannah Vach, 5-10, S, Oviedo (Florida), OTVA, Miami
McKenna Vicini, 6-2, MB, Lexington (Kentucky) Catholic, Lexington United, Stanford
Riley Wagoner, 6-0, OH, Dublin Coffman (Dublin, Ohio), Mintonette, Hawaii
Peyton Wilhite, 6-4, RS-OH, Cathedral Catholic (San Diego, California), COAST, Georgetown
Taylor Williams, 6-3, OH, Churchill (Eugene, Oregon), NPJ, Oregon
Selina Xu, 5-11, S, Menlo School (Atherton, California), Vision, Stanford
Riley Zuhn, 6-5, OH, Fossil Ridge (Fort Collins, Colorado), NORCO, Nebraska
Top 5 Players in this Class (Rank 1-5)
1. Skylar Fields
2. Kendall Kipp
3. Caitie Baird
4. Madi Kubik
5. Selina Xu
