Volleyball adds six players in 2019 Signing Class (pt 2)

Yesterday, we began our breakdown of the 2019 volleyball signing class. It’s a 6-player class that’s expected to be very important for coach Tony Graystone in the upcoming years. Today, we’ll talk about the other three members of the group: Caitlin Dugan, Kylie Trefflich, and Audrey Tuttle.

CAITLIN DUGAN, OUTSIDE HITTER / RIGHT SIDE HITTER, Gilbert, AZ, Campo Verde HS

Texas Tech Athletics

Official bio (via texastech.com)

Caitlin Dugan is the lone out-of-state prospect in the signing class, coming to Texas Tech from the state of Arizona. Dugan’s Campo Verde squad went 26-17 this season, winning their section with a 10-0 mark and earning the No. 3 seed in the AIA State Championships, where they fell in the semifinal round. She was named Region Co-Player of the Year in 2017 along with 5A All-Conference Second Team after taking home all-conference first team accolades in 2016.

Highlights:

Analysis:

I’d be surprised to see Caitlin having playing time in 2019. There’s a lot of depth in her positions this year, with many upperclassmen to fill the starting lineup, but 2020 will be different.

With both Chandler Atwood and Emily Hill who’ll get their degrees, there will be plenty of possibilities to find space on the court. And if Caitlin will continue her interesting development, she’ll be in the mix.

There’s not so much on tape, but we can see a power hitter who can spike both from the left and the right side of the court, with a good elevation framed in a 6’0” body. She’s effective also from the back row. In the videos, she always spikes diagonally, so we can’t have a clear idea of her shot selection.

KYLIE TREFFLICH, OUTSIDE HITTER, New Braunfels, TX, Canyon HS

Texas Tech Athletics

Official bio (via texastech.com)

Kylie Trefflich was a three-year letterwinner at Canyon High School in New Braunfels, Texas, the same school as current freshman and two-time Big 12 Rookie of the Week Brooke Kanas. As a senior, Trefflich was named First Team All-District 27-6A, helping the Unicorns reach the Regional Quarterfinal of the UIL 6A State Tournament and finish with an impressive 36-13 with a 12-2 district mark. Teamed with Kanas her junior season, she earned second team all-district honors at Canyon a year after transferring from Calallen where she was the 30-5A District Newcomer of the Year as a freshman.

Highlights:

Analysis:

Talking about Kylie, we can imagine the same destiny we predicted for Caitlin Dugan, so a redshirt year before staking all of their resources starting from 2020.

In this case, the highlights video shows us a lot, as it’s long, detailed and mainly in HD, and this allows to see some more details. Kylie is, without doubt, a promising hitter, and we can immediately note how she masters all the directions of a spike, even if she clearly misses some power.

She’s good with every kind of set, and she can adjust short or overthrown balls. The best thing we can see is the movement of the spike, simply perfect, as she hits the ball exactly in front of her, where volleyball books say it has to be hit.

Maybe she’s a little bit slow in her movements, but I think that’s something she worked on, as we can see from the Signing Day pictures she’s more athletic. I think she can be a 6-rotation player, but her serve receives and defense were on easy balls so we can’t express our judgment.

AUDREY TUTTLE, DEFENSIVE SPECIALIST, Sugar Land, TX, George Ranch HS

Texas Tech Athletics

Official bio (via texastech.com)

Audrey Tuttle will graduate early and enroll this spring at Texas Tech after a stellar four-year career at George Ranch High School. She is the program’s third AVCA Under Armour All-American in the last three years as she was named honorable mention for 2018. She was a member of the GHVCA Fab 50 team (2017, 2018), the AVCA All-American Phenom List (2015-17) and the 2017 PrepVolleyball.com All-America Defensive Dandies Second Team. She entered her senior year Preseason All-State by Vype and TAVC and was most recently named the District 23-6A Defensive Player of the Year as well as All-District First Team for the fourth straight year. Her George Ranch Longhorns won the area and district titles while going 39-9 this season with an 11-1 district record and a trip to the Regional Semifinal.

Highlights:

Analysis:

I’m convinced this is a high level recruiting class, but I think that we have the classic icing on the cake in Audrey.

She’s an outstanding defender and coach Graystone made a wonderful work to land her in Lubbock. She’s a rapid, quick and reactive defender with beautiful footwork. She can defend every kind of ball, in particular, the ones deflected by the block.

By the way, the most important thing is something more “intangible”: she plays to win. It seems something stupid but she seems to be a hard fighter who doesn’t want the ball to touch the ground and makes everything she can not let it happen. And in my opinion, this kind of player creates victories.

Probably Audrey won’t be the starting libero, as Emerson Solano is more experienced and had a solid 2018 campaign, but there will be plenty of possibilities to show her abilities in the back row.