John Tawa, of prepvolleyball.com, recently released his top 30 recruiting classes of 2013. The UW class is ranked 10th and Washington State is ranked 14th. Juanita’s Jade Finau is the only local in the Huskies’ class but the Cougars’ class has a pair of local players in Jackson’s Emmy Allen and Haley MacDonald.
Here’s what Tawa wrote on the WSU class:
14. WASHINGTON STATE: Emmy Allen, 6-2 OH, Jackson (Mill Creek, Washington); Hailey Bethune, 6-0 RS, Lincoln (Stockton, California); Taylor Ellingsen, 5-8 DS. Mead (Spokane, Washington); Kyra Holt, 6-1 OH, Albany (California); Haley MacDonald, 6-0 S, Jackson (Mill Creek, Washington); Tani Stephens, 5-8 DS/libero, West Albany (Albany, Oregon)
COMMENT: This 2013 class signals the bright future in store for Washington State. It stands as quite possibly one of the best recruiting classes ever in any sport at Washington State and is the first real recruiting class for head coach Jen Greeny after her hire in late March of 2011. Of the six players, four were named some form of High School All-American, two were PrepVolleyball.com Senior Aces, one is a Gatorade State Player of the Year, and one, Allen, was named MVP for the Under-Armour High School All-America match at the Final Four this year. Allen is a player who will make an immediate impact on the program. She was one of only a handful of high school players invited to February’s USA National Volleyball Team Open tryouts, where she made the top courts amongst mostly college players of the record 240 participants. Allen possesses a very high volleyball IQ, is highly skilled, and driven to be the best. Holt, Senior Ace No. 44, has a chance to be an elite college volleyball player. She is a powerful attacker who just keeps getting better in every facet of her game. Holt was a member of the 17 Open All-Tournament Team at Nationals in Columbus last year. Stephens will immediately push for playing time and will be a talent in the back row. A winner of the largest sand volleyball tournament in the world and Oregon’s Gatorade State Player of the Year, she is someone who is skilled and instinctual who can do a little bit of everything. MacDonald will be groomed as the setter of the future and give WSU options at the position, with her capability to attack as a lefty and blocking skills. Bethune’s game has continued to grow, complementing her already natural blocking ability. Ellingsen, No. 1 academically out of 440 students in her class, is an athlete who will add valuable depth to the back row.
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