ON THE RADAR
A quick look at the rising stars in the USA Volleyball High Performance pipeline
Jaden Whitmarsh San Diego, California
Jaden Whitmarsh, playing with partner Kyla Doig, won USA Volleyball’s 2016 U17 FIVB World Championship Trials and the 2016 USAV Beach High Performance Championships U17 exhibition match. She was named most valu- able player of the USAV Beach HP U17 exhibi- tion match. Whitmarsh also won gold at the 2016 AAU Championships and 2016 Cal Cup Manhattan Beach. She has committed to play for the UCLA beach volleyball program. Whitmarsh is the daughter of the late Mike Whitmarsh, who won silver in the inaugural Olympic Games for beach volleyball.
Dylan Missry Holbrook, New York
Dylan Missry, a 6-4 outside hitter, helped spark the U.S. Men’s Junior National Team to gold at the 2016 NORCECA Men’s U21 Continental Championship, including scoring nine points in the title match against Cuba. In 2015, he was part of the U.S. Boys’ Youth National Training Team. As a freshman last spring with UCLA, Missry appeared in 12 matches with five starts, including
a season-high 12 kills against Ohio State. In his final USA Vol- leyball Boys’ Junior National Championships in July 2015, he helped Long Island Volleyball Club to a fifth-place finish in the 17 Open Division en route to being named all-tournament after leading Sachem North High School to the New York State vol- leyball championship title.
Jason Gibbs Bellaire, Texas
Jason Gibbs captured gold at the 2016 USA Volleyball Beach High Perfor- mance Championships in the U17 division with partner Dane Johnson. The pair also placed second in the U18 division of the 2016 West Coast Beach Champion- ships against older competi- tion. Gibbs finished fourth in the FIVB U17
World Championships Trials Tourna- ment. He also claimed gold at the USA Volleyball Junior Beach Tour Cedar Park stop in the U18 division. Playing indoor, Gibbs helped the Lone Star Region to a third-place finish at the 2016 USA Volleyball High Performance Championships in the Boys’ Youth National Division.
Ella May Powell Fayetteville, Arkansas
Ella May Powell, a setter with Ozark Juniors, paced the U.S. Girls’ Youth National Team to the silver medal at the 2016 NORCECA Women’s U18 Continental Champion- ship and a spot into the 2017 FIVB Women’s U18 World
Championship. At NORCECA, she ranked third in Best Setter. Powell, who was named the 2015-16 Arkansas Gatorade Player of the Year, led Ozark Juniors 15s to the 2015 USA Volleyball Girls’ Junior National Championships National 15-and-Under Division title, where she was most valuable player.
Brandon Browning Corona del Mar, California
Paige Hammons Louisville, Kentucky
Paige Hammons, a 6-2 outside hitter with KIVA, was a member of the U.S. Women’s Junior National Team that won silver at the 2016 NORCECA Women’s U20 Continental Championship in July. She was selected to the Under Armour High School All-America First-Team this past year as she finished up her prep career at Sacred Heart Academy in Louisville, Kentucky. In 2015, Hammons was on the U.S. Girls’ Youth National Team that finished with the silver medal at the FIVB Women’s U18 World Championship. Hammons has signed to play for University of Florida.
Brandon Browning, a 6-4 outside hit- ter, helped the 2016 U.S. Boys’ Youth National Team win silver at the NORCECA Men’s U19 Continental Championship in Cuba and earn a berth into the 2017 FIVB Men’s U19 World Championship. At NORCECA, he ranked 21st in scor- ing with 36 points and was fifth in Best Receiver with a 37.0 efficiency. Browning flew directly from Cuba to Dallas to spark his 949 16 Black team to win gold at the 2016 USA Volleyball Boys’ Junior National
Championships in the 16 Open Division. Less than a month later he won bronze at the USA Volleyball High Performance Championships with SCVA Youth International Team.
PHOTOS CLOCKWISE FROM UPPER LEFT: Whitmarsh Family, USA Volleyball, USA Volleyball, Browning Family, USA Volleyball, Gibbs Family
70 | VOLLEYBALLUSA • Digital Issue at
usavolleyball.org/mag
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