Immediate reactions to each PVF team's draft haul
Atlanta Vibe
1(1): OPP Merritt Beason
1(6): MB Khori Louis
3(21): OH Taylor Head, Florida State
4(27): S Mia Tuaniga, USC
5(38): OH Bianca Bertolino, Georgia Tech
Though they appear first in this article because I decided to order teams alphabetically, Atlanta’s draft class is also my favorite. I didn’t entirely agree with their choice to trade up to the first pick to select Merritt Beason, but it’s impossible to argue that she and Khori Louis are anything less than a great first round haul. I adore Louis, who was the deadliest middle in the country this year, and Beason has been a star since the day she picked up a volleyball. They also capitalized on the down market for setters and pulled an excellent one in Tuaniga, whose creative gameplay and excellent serve will make her a fun backup to root for in a blowout or emergency situation.
Head wasn’t a player I scouted extensively, but she carries a reputation as a well rounded player who can hold her own in every phase of the game. Bertolino is one of the best value picks in the entire draft, and her outstanding defense and tough serve would have pushed her higher than 38th on my personal board. Neither have great odds of cracking that loaded Vibe roster, but will be viable challengers in camp. Atlanta looked like the best-run team in 2023-24 and have done nothing to change that perception in this draft.
Columbus Fury
2(11): OH Raina Terry, Illinois
3(18): OH Kaylee Cox, Western Kentucky
4(32): OPP Abby Walker, Cincinnati
5(36): L Kate Georgiades, Houston
Fury entered this draft with both the fewest signed players on their roster and the fewest draft picks, lending greater weight to every selection they made in this draft. Coming off a season where they scored big on Reagan Cooper with a non-premium pick, I was excited to see what they’d do, and Terry seems like a good candidate to fill Cooper’s shoes. She’s a LOVB-affiliated athlete, so she got no love around here pre-draft, but she’s a vicious attacker and capable six-rotation player.
The rest of this draft doesn’t make sense to me in context, as Columbus took swings on sleepers with two of their three remaining picks. Cox has dominated CUSA and was on my radar, but I don’t love her, and I’ll admit to knowing nothing about Abby Walker predraft. They seem like fine picks, but I would have rather seen them take established talents. Georgiades is a grinder who features tons of range, and is a worthwhile late-round flyer. I don’t come away from this feeling much better about Columbus than I did before. However, spending their first round pick to get Tori Stringer from Atlanta, Columbus was never going to blow us away.
Grand Rapids Rise
1(7): MB Raven Colvin, Purdue
2(13): OPP Naya Shime, SMU
3(22): S Camryn Turner, Kansas
4(29): L Elena Oglivie, Stanford
5(40): OH Jess Mruzik, Penn State
Grand Rapids is my hometown team, so take this with a grain of salt, but I feel that they came away from this draft with an above average group of prospects. Colvin is a deadly hitter and suffocating blocker, and according to Purdue’s Coach Shondell, she grew in the leadership aspects of the game as a senior. Shime in the second round is a bit rich, but you couldn’t listen to a minute of SMU’s miracle team this year without hearing her name. She’ll make for a fine competitor in camp for the right side backup job.
Turner is not the setter I would have picked, but she’s going to apply a lot of pressure to Mackenzie Vasquez and August Raskie as the Rise figure out what to do at their slightly weak setter position. Oglivie will apply the same pressure to Rise’s liberos, one of whom has not played competitively since 2021. Mruzik being pulled as the final selection in this draft was a fun surprise, she’s a LOVB-affiliated athlete who has wreaked havoc on Big Ten defenses for her whole career and will make for a good practice squad candidate.
Indy Ignite
1(2): OH Anna DeBeer, Louisville
2(9): L Elena Scott, Louisville
2(16): MB CC Crawford, Wisconsin
3(20): MB Taylor Trammell, Penn State
4(28): OH Nina Cajic, Tennessee
5(33): OH Isabel Martin, Florida
I loved the opening trade for Indy, who would have likely selected DeBeer with the first pick anyway, but came away with the best libero in college ball by agreeing to pick her second instead. DeBeer and Scott are a tremendous one-to punch, and backing them up with Taylor Trammell in the third round makes for a draft class I have a difficult time criticizing too heavily. I don’t love the Crawford pull in the second round, but with the need for middles who will be ready out of the box, I understand it.
What I don’t understand is selecting two international rookies in Cajic and Martin. Cajic has the winner’s gene and Martin acquitted herself well in SEC play. It’s just not a risk I would take to draft multiple rookies who could take up international slots when those are probably better spent on known quantities from overseas leagues. All in all, the Ignite filled their coffers with players I generally like. I just don’t really care for putting draftees in direct competition with each other with such a high likelihood of being cut.
Omaha Supernovas
1(8): MB Toyosi Onabanjo, Kansas
2(10): OH Emily Londot, Ohio State
2(15): OH Ally Batenhorst, USC
3(19): OH Lindsay Krause, Nebraska
4(30): OH Valeria Vasquez Gomez, Pitt
5(37): S Kendra Wait, Creighton
In my opinion, spending a first round pick on Toyosi Onabanjo is perhaps the biggest head-scratcher decision that happened on Monday afternoon. She’s a great college player and one heck of a stat-stuffer, but she’s undersized and with middles such as Natalie Foster or Taylor Trammell still available, I can’t understand the choice. I had Onabanjo in a similar range as Claire Jeter and Julia Haggerty, both of whom went undrafted.
Similarly, I don’t care for Londot as the tenth player selected in this draft. She’s been a flagship athlete at Ohio State for years and I figured someone would fall for her in this draft class, but spending an early second round pick on her is pretty rich. Londot is physical and capable of a tremendous offensive performance on any given night, but she’s painfully inefficient and I don’t see that getting any better at the pro level.
I didn’t scout Krause or Batenhorst very thoroughly, but they fit a similar mold as tall hitters who can serve when needed. I like Batnenhorst a little more than Krause, she’s a better defender and was a trusted leader on USC. Vasquez Gomez’ stock went down near the end of her career through no fault of her own — it’s hard to stand out in college volleyball’s best group of hitters. She’s a great practice squad option in case of injury. Wait isn’t the setter I would have picked, but she’s a quality player and a good value where she was taken. If the Supernovas believe she fits their system, I can’t judge the pick too much.
Overall, I don’t care for the resource management in this class. While I can understand most of these picks in a vacuum, they assemble to make an underwhelming group. I think this is my least favorite class in the draft this year.
Orlando Valkyries
1(3): OH Norah Sis, Creighton
2(14): MB Natalie Foster, SMU
3(17): OPP Lydia Grote, Minnesota
4(31): OPP Anna Smrek, Wisconsin
5(39): L Nalani Iosia, Michigan State
I love this draft for the Valkyries. Norah Sis has been one of the best statistical performers in college volleyball this season and is completely worth being mentioned in the same breath as Anna DeBeer and Merritt Beason. Natalie Foster became a favorite of mine as the season went on, she’s a middle who serves like an outside and grew tremendously as a blocker this year.
Grote is not a player I expected to be picked this highly, but she stepped up well when Minnesota needed her this year. She carries a reputation as a leader. As a Canadian, Smrek falls under international restrictions, but she was always going to be picked. It’s impossible not to gamble on a player who stands at 6-foot-9 and hit over .300 on the year. She might convert to middle as a mobile big. I don’t love the Iosia pickup, and there’s probably four or five liberos who could have made me happier. She’s been having a good year, though, and I understand the selection. This is my second-favorite draft class.
San Diego Mojo
1(5): OPP Devyn Robinson, Wisconsin
3(23): OH Maya Tabron, SMU
4(26): MB Leyla Blackwell, Nebraska
5(34): OH Elise McGhee, Baylor
Robinson is a big-time pick to lead the pack for Mojo, who badly needed an impact player on the right side. She’ll almost certainly be a featured hitter during her rookie season. The draft day commentators were all over the Blackwell pick, praising her as a stud who should have been picked in the second round, not the fourth. McGhee’s best shot at the active roster is probably by impressing in camp and earning a spot on the bench as a specialist, as she’s a decent hitter but not really pro ready in my opinion. I feel somewhat neutral about this group of players, but the Mojo didn’t have much to work with and made a slam dunk pick when it counted.
Vegas Thrill
1(4): OH/OPP Camryn Hannah, Penn State
2(12): L Mary Shroll, Arizona State
3(24): OH Charitie Luper, Louisville
4(25): MB Morgan Stout, Wichita State
5(35): OH Lauren Jardine, Utah
I have no strong feelings about this group of players. Generally speaking, I like the strategy that Thrill took, selecting known quantities with their first two picks and going with gambles afterward, but I completely whiffed on Hannah as a top player in predraft prep and I know next to nothing about Stout or Jardine. I liked Shroll as a late-round player, and was surprised to see her taken as early as 12th overall. She’s been tremendous this year for the Sun Devils, though, and Thrill must think she can learn a thing or two from Kendall White.
Luper is a fascinating selection. She’s only 5-foot-8, but features a huge vertical jump and can even impact the game in blocking. She’s prone to the occasional implosion and I don’t see her on the active roster to begin the year, but I sincerely hope she can make the practice squad and get better for next season.