{"id":402144,"date":"2026-08-09T23:22:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T23:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/402144\/"},"modified":"2026-08-09T23:22:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T23:22:11","slug":"high-school-volleyball-75-central-texas-players-to-watch-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/402144\/","title":{"rendered":"High school volleyball: 75 Central Texas players to watch in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/p>\n

The Austin American-Statesman Top 11 preseason high school volleyball athletes, Aug. 6, 2026. Back row from left: Round Rock\u2019s Kerington Thornton, Anderson\u2019s Chloe Frizzell and Westlake\u2019s Geralynne Byers-Veal. Front row from left: Georgetown\u2019s Amelia Albright, Lake Travis\u2019 Gentry Barker, Round Rock\u2019s Isa Cordaway-Dreier, Weiss\u2019 Ava Jackson, Lake Travis\u2019 Xyanna Stephens, Johnson\u2019s Mya Ibarra and Bowie\u2019s Jazzlyn Hepburn. Not pictured: Westlake’s Clayton Kelly.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n

In what was perhaps the greatest season in\u00a0Central Texas volleyball<\/a>, three Austin-area schools advanced to UIL state championship matches for the first time in 2025, led by Cedar Park’s sweep of top-ranked Argyle to win the Class 5A Division II crown. Austin High was a state runner-up in Class 6A DII and Wimberley was runner-up in 4A DII.<\/p>\n

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This season brings another chance for the area to break through with state titles, though 2026 could be dominated by a small group of impressive sophomores. The 2025 season was senior-heavy; of the 54 players honored on the American-Statesman’s All-Central Texas team, 33 were seniors and there were only five underclassmen on the first and second teams.<\/p>\n

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MORE:\u00a0Who was Central Texas’ top overall sports program last year? Our final standings<\/a><\/p>\n

Here are 75 Central Texas players to watch, starting with our top 11<\/a>, listed alphabetically:<\/p>\n

Amelia Albright, Georgetown<\/p>\n

The senior setter and right-side hitter was last year’s District 23-5A MVP and an\u00a0ACVA honorable mention All-American. She’s committed to Florida and has 868 career assists, 288 kills, 63 aces and 436 digs. She was a first-team All-Central Texas selection last year.<\/p>\n

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Gentry Barker, Lake Travis<\/p>\n

The\u00a0senior is perhaps the top six-rotation player in the state<\/a> and is coming off a stellar all-around season. She ripped 572 kills and had 382 digs, 32 aces and 20 blocks. She was a\u00a0MaxPreps first-team All-American and notched her 1,500th career kill last year. She’s committed to San Diego State. She and Albright were the only two nonseniors on last year’s All-Central Texas first team.<\/p>\n

Geralynn\u00a0Byers-Veal, Westlake<\/p>\n

The\u00a0sophomore outside hitter<\/a> was the American-Statesman’s Central Texas newcomer of the year in 2025 for the Class 6A state quarterfinalist Chaps. She also was District 26-6A’s newcomer of the year after posting 370 kills, 187 digs, 52 blocks and 32 aces for the season.<\/p>\n

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Isa Cordaway-Dreier, Round Rock<\/p>\n

The Round Rock sophomore was last year’s District 25-6A defensive MVP as a freshman after posting 601 digs with 61 aces and 84 assists for the district-champion Dragons. She was one of our four finalists for 2025 Central Texas newcomer of the year and was a third-team All-Central Texas selection.<\/p>\n

Chloe Frizzell, Anderson<\/p>\n

An adept six-rotation player, the Trojans junior collected 287 kills last season along with 162 digs, 44 aces and 33 blocks for the two-time district champions. She was a third-team All-Central Texas selection.<\/p>\n

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Jazzlyn Hepburn, Bowie<\/p>\n

Hepburn, who is committed to Washington, is a phenomenal athlete who averaged 4.7 kills and 2.9 digs per set and was a first-team All-District 26-6A selection last year.<\/p>\n

Mya Ibarra, Johnson<\/p>\n

After earning her district’s newcomer of the year award in 2024, Ibarra followed up with 393 kills, an average of 3.8 kills per set and all-district and all-state tournament honors as a sophomore. The junior also had 25 blocks and 73 digs. She was a second-team All-Central Texas selection last year.<\/p>\n

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Ava Jackson, Weiss<\/p>\n

The sophomore was her district’s setter of the year as a freshman, averaging 9.6 assists per set and totaling more than 1,200 for the season along with 88 kills, 302 digs and 51 blocks. One of our four finalists for 2025 Central Texas newcomer of the year, she was a third-team All-Central Texas pick.<\/p>\n

Clayton Kelly, Westlake<\/p>\n

The Chaps’ MVP last year had a tremendous all-around sophomore season: 280 kills, 303 digs, 50 aces and 56 blocks.<\/p>\n

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Xyanna Stephens, Lake Travis<\/p>\n

The\u00a0senior<\/a> was District 26-6A’s defensive player of the year last season, recording more than 1,000 digs. She was a second-team All-Central Texas selection.<\/p>\n

Kerington Thornton, Round Rock<\/p>\n

The Dragons senior was a second-team All-Central Texas pick and is one of the area’s dominant middle blockers. Committed to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, she tallied 390 kills and 78 blocks for the District 25-6A champions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Other Central Texas players to watch<\/p>\n

Piper Adair, McCallum OH, junior<\/p>\n

Jade Anderson, Connally DS\/OH, senior\u00a0<\/p>\n

Aniyah Baker, LBJ OH, senior\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Hayden Baldacchino, St. Michael’s OH, sophomore<\/p>\n

Frances Beiter, St. Michael\u2019s S, senior\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nora Bettis, Austin High S, senior\u00a0<\/p>\n

Laven Blumoff, Austin High DS, senior<\/p>\n

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Harper Bohnen, Cedar Park OH, junior\u00a0<\/p>\n

Elise Bowman, St. Stephen\u2019s S, senior\u00a0<\/p>\n

Denariah Bosier, Stony Point MB, junior\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brooklyn Bradley, Round Rock OH, senior<\/p>\n

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Deja Carroll, Weiss OH, junior<\/p>\n

Olivia Coleman, Ann Richards S\/OH, junior\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kyrksen Cook, Westlake S, junior\u00a0<\/p>\n

Savy Cook, St. Andrew\u2019s DS, senior<\/p>\n

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Emma Davis, Leander DS, senior<\/p>\n

Kristen Duron-Rangel, Travis S, senior<\/p>\n

Mia Davis, McCallum S, senior\u00a0<\/p>\n

Piper Evans, Westwood MB, senior\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Jaci Ezekwuka, East View MB, senior\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kharmin Fisher, Hutto S, senior\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mackenzie Frierson, Hyde Park S, senior\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hannah Griffin, Liberty Hill OH, junior<\/p>\n

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Olivia Gorakhpurwalla, Vandegrift OH, junior<\/p>\n

Addison Gottschalk, Weiss MB, junior<\/p>\n

Julyana Harris, Anderson MB, senior\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tanoa Hawthorne, LASA OH, sophomore<\/p>\n

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Audrey Hedlund, Vandegrift MB, senior<\/p>\n

Iyanna Herzog, Stony Point OH, senior<\/p>\n

Sadie Jorgensen, Vandegrift S, senior<\/p>\n

Anna Kurz, Cedar Park DS, senior\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Trinity Laney, Wimberley OH, sophomore<\/p>\n

Brooke Leigh, Regents MB, junior<\/p>\n

Wesley McGinnis, Austin High OH, senior<\/p>\n

Caroline Miller, Westwood OH, junior<\/p>\n

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Mallory Miller, Georgetown OH, senior\u00a0<\/p>\n

Katelyn Mireles, Pflugerville S, junior\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bianca Mohr, Wimberley S, junior\u00a0<\/p>\n

Abby Norling, Vista Ridge OH, senior\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Bella Obiefuna, Hays MB, junior\u00a0<\/p>\n

Isla Ornelas, Rouse S, senior\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lee Phillips, Hyde Park MB, junior<\/p>\n

Jordan Pitkethley, Georgetown DS, junior\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Pieper Poage, Anderson OH, senior<\/p>\n

Layla Pokorny, East View OH, senior\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lola Polsley, Hutto OH, senior<\/p>\n

Avery Ralston, Rouse OH, senior<\/p>\n

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Tabitha Roberson, LASA OH, junior<\/p>\n

Lyla Rosas, Bowie DS, senior\u00a0<\/p>\n

Alexa Sandoval, Dripping Springs DS, senior<\/p>\n

Parker Schurle, Ann Richards OH, junior\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Madison Sestak, Dripping Springs OH, senior<\/p>\n

Summer Snyder, Liberty Hill DS, junior<\/p>\n

Kelsey Stallworth, Gateway Prep MB, senior\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tilly Streeter, St. Andrew\u2019s S, senior<\/p>\n

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Jenna Tello, Johnson DS, junior\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kara Thames, Wimberley DS, senior\u00a0<\/p>\n

Poppy Timmons, Regents OH, junior\u00a0<\/p>\n

Miriam Tovar, Eastside OH, senior\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Eva Marie Thompson, Hendrickson OH, senior\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cailee Valadez, Cedar Ridge OH, senior<\/p>\n

Kelsi Watson, Vista Ridge OH, sophomore<\/p>\n

Maggie Wheeler, Lake Travis OH, junior\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Honor White, Dripping Springs MB, senior\u00a0<\/p>\n

Addison Wyatt, Cedar Ridge MB, junior<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Austin American-Statesman Top 11 preseason high school volleyball athletes, Aug. 6, 2026. Back row from left: Round…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":402145,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[10686,88344,2291,2292,1227,8353,27,29,28,10687],"class_list":["post-402144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-georgetown-eagles","tag-girls-high-school-sports","tag-high-school-sports","tag-high-school-volleyball","tag-high-schools","tag-lake-travis-cavaliers","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-westlake-chaparrals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/402145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}