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Over the past 10-plus years, Southwest Florida's experienced what's felt like a volleyball boom.
Multiple area programs have made it to a Final Four, and a dynasty was created at Seacrest Country Day, when they won four straight state titles from 2021-2024 along with the Stingrays winning their first in 2013.
That's what made selecting the top 25 volleyball players of the past 25 seasons such a challenge. To be eligible for this list, a player had to be on a Southwest Florida high school volleyball team for at least one season between 2001 and 2025. Consideration was not just exclusive to the high school level. Collegiate careers as well as professional resumes were taken into account
Here are our selections, presented in alphabetical order.
Brown led the Vikings to a 49-2 record in her final two seasons at the setter position, dishing out over 1,100 assists during that span to earn All-Area First Team honors. At VCU, Brown was named to the Colonial All-Rookie Team, averaging 6.46 assists per set as a freshman. At New Mexico State, she recorded 665 assists in 2012 with 165 digs.
Davis was The News-Press Volleyball Player of the Year in 2007 after winning a pair of state titles with the Sentinels. At UNC Charlotte, Davis finished her career with the sixth-most assists in program history, accumulating 2,816. Davis also had 620 digs during that timeframe.
Damon was elite in a Gulf Coast uniform, posting 923 kills and 110 aces under coach Christy Wright. While she never won the Naples Daily News Player of the Year award, she was a three-time First Team All-Area selection and was a finalist for the award in 2017. She tallied 702 digs and 103 aces at Miami, helping the Canes to a 25-5 record as a senior.
Dunleavy was an elite libero in a Barron uniform, recording 472 digs during her senior season after spending her first two years at Seacrest. The 2012 Naples Daily News Player of the Year was recruited to Miami.
English's career has been filled with accolades, including earning a pair of Naples Daily News Player of the Year awards during her time at Barron Collier. At FGCU, English had 916 kills, 172 aces, 224 blocks, and 603 digs before transferring to UCF for a fifth year. In one season with the Knights, English had 248 kills, 68 aces, 38 blocks, and 204 digs. She was an All-ASUN First Team selection as a freshman and as a senior, and concluded her collegiate career as the Division I leader in career aces, with 240.
The 2006 Naples Daily News Volleyball Player of the Year, Gildersleeve led the Sharks to a 22-5 record and a CCAC title. She posted 428 kills as an outside hitter that season, playing collegiately at Georgia Southern. As a freshman, she posted 186 kills and 69 blocks, before posting 51 blocks as a sophomore. As a junior, she had 143 kills and 55 blocks, adding a .308 hitting percentage in the middle.
Gonzalez was an instrumental piece in Seacrest's first state title in 2013, being named the Florida Dairy Farmers Class 2A Player of the Year that year. At Radford, Gonzalez had 846 kills, 60 aces, 159 blocks, and 472 digs in a four-year career, adding a pair of All-Big South Honorable Mentions as a junior and senior.
Grimshaw's volleyball journey didn't start until the eighth grade, but she was very good at it. As a junior in 2016, Grimshaw earned First Team All-Area Honors after posting 442 kills and 44 blocks. She played collegiately for four years at Temple along with a fifth year at Maryland, earning First Team All-AAC Honors as a junior in 2020. In her five years, Grimshaw had 890 kills, 67 aces, 139 blocks, and 638 digs.
Haley put together five strong varsity seasons in a Seacrest uniform, resulting in four state titles from her freshman year to her senior year. Haley had 2,133 digs for the Stingrays, adding 198 aces and 374 assists as arguably the area's all-time best libero. While she never won the Southwest Florida Volleyball Player of the Year, she was a three-time All-Area First Team selection. At UCF, she was named to the All-Big 12 Rookie Team after posting 319 digs as a freshman in 2025.
Hipp starred at Riverdale before going to Tulsa, accumulating 2,350 assists, 472 kills, 927 digs, 261 aces, and 82 blocks over a four-year career at Riverdale. With the Golden Hurricane, Hipp had 2,312 assists, adding 95 kills, 70 aces, and 1,079 digs. Hipp was First Team All-AAC as a senior, also earning Setter of the Year honors as a senior.
Kangwa helped the Greenies reach the Final Four in 2006, earning All-Area First Team honors in 2007 after posting 268 kills, 92 digs, and 102 aces as a senior. At Georgia Southern, Kangwa posted 930 kills, 1,128 points, and 107 aces over 114 games.
Mabry was The News-Press Player of the Year in 2016 after putting together a 461 kill season that year, a record that still stands on Sunrise Drive today. At Harvard, Mabry was an All-Ivy Honorable Mention selection as a junior before losing her senior season to the coronavirus pandemic. She accumulated 588 kills, 55 aces, 70 blocks, and 458 digs in three seasons.
[IMG alt="Libero Katie Mosher celebrates a key point.
Larry Novey/FSU athletics
FSU’s Katie Mosher. Libero Katie Mosher celebrates a key point Wednesday night. Courtesy of Larry Novey/FSU athletics"]https://media.zenfs.com/en/the-news-press/13490c3b57f851ced389e55d5790fb89[/IMG]
Mosher put together an excellent career in college, still holding the all-time digs record at Florida State with 2,123 for her career. Her redshirt senior year saw her produce 518 digs, the second most in a single season for the Seminoles. At Bishop Verot, Mosher had 1,001 digs and 170 aces as the starting libero for the Vikings.
Reschke was the 2009 Naples Daily News Player of the Year, capping off a career in which she earned three consecutive CCAC selections. She was one of the top outside hitters in program history at the University of Tampa, finishing her career with 959 kills while earning two AVCA All-America honors. She twice earned First-Team All-Conference and All-South Region honors, highlighted by a 26-kill, error-free performance in the 2012 NCAA Division II national championship match.
Rives' was a workhorse for First Baptist and Seacrest Country Day, finishing with a then-state record 2,129 kills over six seasons, adding 1,260 digs, 266 aces, and 133 blocks to earn the Southwest Florida Volleyball Player of the Year award as a junior and senior, helping Seacrest capture state titles both years. Rives competed at Missouri State and Chattanooga in her first two years of college, tallying 461 kills before retiring.
Savage was an elite presence in the middle for the Green Wave, earning First Team All-Area honors as a senior after putting together a season with 128 kills and 152 blocks for Fort Myers, which finished 30-3. She earned Second Team All-ACC honors as a redshirt junior at Miami in 2005, logging 483 kills that season with 100 blocks. That year, she had 28 games where she had double figure kills as one of Miami's premier offensive weapons.
Soderlund won four state titles with the Stingrays and closed out her career as one of the program's top attackers in recent memory. The 6-foot-2 outside hitter compiled 958 kills over her four years, including back-to-back seasons with north of 350 kills as a junior and senior. Soderlund is now at Georgetown, where she earned Big East All-Freshman Team honors after posting 267 kills and 167 digs. She had a season-high 21 kills against Butler.
Stewart was a solid middle for Fort Myers offensively, finishing with 515 kills in three full varsity seasons, adding 135 blocks and a kill percentage north of 50 percent to earn First Team All-Area as a junior and senior. At Lehigh, Stewart was First Team All-Patriot League as a senior, becoming the program leader in block assists (435), second in total blocks (492), and second in hitting percentage (.286). She finished with 764 kills and 61 aces along with being an elite defensive presence.
Stewart's another one that's fresh out of high school and on this list, having starred at First Baptist. She accumulated 1,231 kills and 1,927 digs in her career, earning the Southwest Florida Volleyball Player of the Year in 2024. At San Diego State, Stewart's already made her mark, earning a spot on the All-Mountain West team after posting 455 digs and 32 aces at the libero position.
Tessier was a standout setter at ECS, totaling 2,282 career assists, 376 kills, 600 digs and 185 service aces while leading the Sentinels to multiple regional final appearances. She was a 2016 News-Press All-Area Player of the Year finalist, and later starred collegiately at Florida State, Iowa, and FGCU, earning First Team All-ASUN, ASUN Tournament MVP, and AVCA South Region Honorable Mention honors during her final season with the Eagles.
Thompson was one of the area's recent greats, earning the Gatorade Florida Player of the Year in 2020, along with Florida Dairy Farmers Miss Volleyball, and multiple high school All-American honors while leading Fort Myers to the state semifinals in Class 6A. Thompson accumulated 1,315 kills at Fort Myers before playing at Notre Dame and Alabama, where she totaled 432 kills, 139 digs, and 52 blocks. She earned The News-Press Player of the Year award as a sophomore and junior before winning the Southwest Florida Volleyball Player of the Year as a senior.
Wagner was a star at North Fort Myers, setting the school record for career kills and blocks, as well as single season records in those categories. She was The News-Press Player of the Year in 2011 after leading the Red Knights to the regional finals in Class 5A, posting 366 kills, 123 blocks, and 69 aces. At Tampa, she finished with 835 kills and 405 blocks before playing professionally in Europe.
Weston was a three-time All-Area pick by the Naples Daily News, earning Player of the Year honors from both The News-Press and Naples Daily News in 2008. That year, Weston dished out 813 assists to become the program's all-time assists leader. Weston played collegiately at the University of Florida and FGCU.
Youngquist was a star on the indoor scene in high school, helping Canterbury win back-to-back titles while earning The News-Press Player of the Year award in 2003. She went on to become one of the greatest players in FGCU history, earning AVCA Second Team All-America honors, finishing with 1,173 career kills, 1,369 digs, and 100 aces. This was all before she starred in the sand, becoming an Olympian in beach volleyball, qualifying for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro with then-partner Lauren Fendrick.
Youngquist was another standout at ECS, eclipsing 200 kills as a junior and senior, while adding 325 or more kills in both seasons as well. At FGCU, she earned ASUN All-Freshman Team honors, two second-team All-ASUN selections, was the 2011 Atlantic Sun Preseason Libero of the Year, and finished her career second in FGCU history with 1,652 digs.
Follow Sports Reporter Alex Martin on X at @NP_AlexMartin or via email: [email protected]. For the best sports coverage in Southwest Florida, follow @newspresssports and @ndnprepzone on Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Southwest Florida's top 25 volleyball players of the last 25 years
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Multiple area programs have made it to a Final Four, and a dynasty was created at Seacrest Country Day, when they won four straight state titles from 2021-2024 along with the Stingrays winning their first in 2013.
That's what made selecting the top 25 volleyball players of the past 25 seasons such a challenge. To be eligible for this list, a player had to be on a Southwest Florida high school volleyball team for at least one season between 2001 and 2025. Consideration was not just exclusive to the high school level. Collegiate careers as well as professional resumes were taken into account
Here are our selections, presented in alphabetical order.
Ciara Brown, Bishop Verot
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Brown led the Vikings to a 49-2 record in her final two seasons at the setter position, dishing out over 1,100 assists during that span to earn All-Area First Team honors. At VCU, Brown was named to the Colonial All-Rookie Team, averaging 6.46 assists per set as a freshman. At New Mexico State, she recorded 665 assists in 2012 with 165 digs.
Sheri Davis, Evangelical Christian
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Davis was The News-Press Volleyball Player of the Year in 2007 after winning a pair of state titles with the Sentinels. At UNC Charlotte, Davis finished her career with the sixth-most assists in program history, accumulating 2,816. Davis also had 620 digs during that timeframe.
Emily Damon, Gulf Coast
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Damon was elite in a Gulf Coast uniform, posting 923 kills and 110 aces under coach Christy Wright. While she never won the Naples Daily News Player of the Year award, she was a three-time First Team All-Area selection and was a finalist for the award in 2017. She tallied 702 digs and 103 aces at Miami, helping the Canes to a 25-5 record as a senior.
Lisa Dunleavy, Seacrest Country Day/Barron Collier
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Dunleavy was an elite libero in a Barron uniform, recording 472 digs during her senior season after spending her first two years at Seacrest. The 2012 Naples Daily News Player of the Year was recruited to Miami.
Skylar English, Barron Collier
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English's career has been filled with accolades, including earning a pair of Naples Daily News Player of the Year awards during her time at Barron Collier. At FGCU, English had 916 kills, 172 aces, 224 blocks, and 603 digs before transferring to UCF for a fifth year. In one season with the Knights, English had 248 kills, 68 aces, 38 blocks, and 204 digs. She was an All-ASUN First Team selection as a freshman and as a senior, and concluded her collegiate career as the Division I leader in career aces, with 240.
Sarah Gildersleeve, Gulf Coast
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The 2006 Naples Daily News Volleyball Player of the Year, Gildersleeve led the Sharks to a 22-5 record and a CCAC title. She posted 428 kills as an outside hitter that season, playing collegiately at Georgia Southern. As a freshman, she posted 186 kills and 69 blocks, before posting 51 blocks as a sophomore. As a junior, she had 143 kills and 55 blocks, adding a .308 hitting percentage in the middle.
Valerie Gonzalez, Seacrest Country Day
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Gonzalez was an instrumental piece in Seacrest's first state title in 2013, being named the Florida Dairy Farmers Class 2A Player of the Year that year. At Radford, Gonzalez had 846 kills, 60 aces, 159 blocks, and 472 digs in a four-year career, adding a pair of All-Big South Honorable Mentions as a junior and senior.
Gem Grimshaw, Seacrest Country Day
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Grimshaw's volleyball journey didn't start until the eighth grade, but she was very good at it. As a junior in 2016, Grimshaw earned First Team All-Area Honors after posting 442 kills and 44 blocks. She played collegiately for four years at Temple along with a fifth year at Maryland, earning First Team All-AAC Honors as a junior in 2020. In her five years, Grimshaw had 890 kills, 67 aces, 139 blocks, and 638 digs.
Alexa Haley, Seacrest Country Day
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Haley put together five strong varsity seasons in a Seacrest uniform, resulting in four state titles from her freshman year to her senior year. Haley had 2,133 digs for the Stingrays, adding 198 aces and 374 assists as arguably the area's all-time best libero. While she never won the Southwest Florida Volleyball Player of the Year, she was a three-time All-Area First Team selection. At UCF, she was named to the All-Big 12 Rookie Team after posting 319 digs as a freshman in 2025.
Brayden Hipp, Riverdale
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Hipp starred at Riverdale before going to Tulsa, accumulating 2,350 assists, 472 kills, 927 digs, 261 aces, and 82 blocks over a four-year career at Riverdale. With the Golden Hurricane, Hipp had 2,312 assists, adding 95 kills, 70 aces, and 1,079 digs. Hipp was First Team All-AAC as a senior, also earning Setter of the Year honors as a senior.
Muki Kangwa, Fort Myers
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Kangwa helped the Greenies reach the Final Four in 2006, earning All-Area First Team honors in 2007 after posting 268 kills, 92 digs, and 102 aces as a senior. At Georgia Southern, Kangwa posted 930 kills, 1,128 points, and 107 aces over 114 games.
Mindie Mabry, Riverdale/Bishop Verot
Mabry was The News-Press Player of the Year in 2016 after putting together a 461 kill season that year, a record that still stands on Sunrise Drive today. At Harvard, Mabry was an All-Ivy Honorable Mention selection as a junior before losing her senior season to the coronavirus pandemic. She accumulated 588 kills, 55 aces, 70 blocks, and 458 digs in three seasons.
Katie Mosher, Bishop Verot
[IMG alt="Libero Katie Mosher celebrates a key point.
Larry Novey/FSU athletics
FSU’s Katie Mosher. Libero Katie Mosher celebrates a key point Wednesday night. Courtesy of Larry Novey/FSU athletics"]https://media.zenfs.com/en/the-news-press/13490c3b57f851ced389e55d5790fb89[/IMG]
Mosher put together an excellent career in college, still holding the all-time digs record at Florida State with 2,123 for her career. Her redshirt senior year saw her produce 518 digs, the second most in a single season for the Seminoles. At Bishop Verot, Mosher had 1,001 digs and 170 aces as the starting libero for the Vikings.
Holly Reschke, Gulf Coast
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Reschke was the 2009 Naples Daily News Player of the Year, capping off a career in which she earned three consecutive CCAC selections. She was one of the top outside hitters in program history at the University of Tampa, finishing her career with 959 kills while earning two AVCA All-America honors. She twice earned First-Team All-Conference and All-South Region honors, highlighted by a 26-kill, error-free performance in the 2012 NCAA Division II national championship match.
Breanah Rives, First Baptist/Seacrest Country Day
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Rives' was a workhorse for First Baptist and Seacrest Country Day, finishing with a then-state record 2,129 kills over six seasons, adding 1,260 digs, 266 aces, and 133 blocks to earn the Southwest Florida Volleyball Player of the Year award as a junior and senior, helping Seacrest capture state titles both years. Rives competed at Missouri State and Chattanooga in her first two years of college, tallying 461 kills before retiring.
Frannie Savage, Fort Myers
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Savage was an elite presence in the middle for the Green Wave, earning First Team All-Area honors as a senior after putting together a season with 128 kills and 152 blocks for Fort Myers, which finished 30-3. She earned Second Team All-ACC honors as a redshirt junior at Miami in 2005, logging 483 kills that season with 100 blocks. That year, she had 28 games where she had double figure kills as one of Miami's premier offensive weapons.
Sami Soderlund, Seacrest Country Day
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Soderlund won four state titles with the Stingrays and closed out her career as one of the program's top attackers in recent memory. The 6-foot-2 outside hitter compiled 958 kills over her four years, including back-to-back seasons with north of 350 kills as a junior and senior. Soderlund is now at Georgetown, where she earned Big East All-Freshman Team honors after posting 267 kills and 167 digs. She had a season-high 21 kills against Butler.
Emily Stewart, Fort Myers
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Stewart was a solid middle for Fort Myers offensively, finishing with 515 kills in three full varsity seasons, adding 135 blocks and a kill percentage north of 50 percent to earn First Team All-Area as a junior and senior. At Lehigh, Stewart was First Team All-Patriot League as a senior, becoming the program leader in block assists (435), second in total blocks (492), and second in hitting percentage (.286). She finished with 764 kills and 61 aces along with being an elite defensive presence.
Zara Stewart, First Baptist
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Stewart's another one that's fresh out of high school and on this list, having starred at First Baptist. She accumulated 1,231 kills and 1,927 digs in her career, earning the Southwest Florida Volleyball Player of the Year in 2024. At San Diego State, Stewart's already made her mark, earning a spot on the All-Mountain West team after posting 455 digs and 32 aces at the libero position.
Lily Tessier, Evangelical Christian
Tessier was a standout setter at ECS, totaling 2,282 career assists, 376 kills, 600 digs and 185 service aces while leading the Sentinels to multiple regional final appearances. She was a 2016 News-Press All-Area Player of the Year finalist, and later starred collegiately at Florida State, Iowa, and FGCU, earning First Team All-ASUN, ASUN Tournament MVP, and AVCA South Region Honorable Mention honors during her final season with the Eagles.
Paris Thompson, Fort Myers
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Thompson was one of the area's recent greats, earning the Gatorade Florida Player of the Year in 2020, along with Florida Dairy Farmers Miss Volleyball, and multiple high school All-American honors while leading Fort Myers to the state semifinals in Class 6A. Thompson accumulated 1,315 kills at Fort Myers before playing at Notre Dame and Alabama, where she totaled 432 kills, 139 digs, and 52 blocks. She earned The News-Press Player of the Year award as a sophomore and junior before winning the Southwest Florida Volleyball Player of the Year as a senior.
Jessica Wagner, North Fort Myers
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Wagner was a star at North Fort Myers, setting the school record for career kills and blocks, as well as single season records in those categories. She was The News-Press Player of the Year in 2011 after leading the Red Knights to the regional finals in Class 5A, posting 366 kills, 123 blocks, and 69 aces. At Tampa, she finished with 835 kills and 405 blocks before playing professionally in Europe.
Sundai Weston, Gulf Coast
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Weston was a three-time All-Area pick by the Naples Daily News, earning Player of the Year honors from both The News-Press and Naples Daily News in 2008. That year, Weston dished out 813 assists to become the program's all-time assists leader. Weston played collegiately at the University of Florida and FGCU.
Brooke Youngquist, Estero/Canterbury
Youngquist was a star on the indoor scene in high school, helping Canterbury win back-to-back titles while earning The News-Press Player of the Year award in 2003. She went on to become one of the greatest players in FGCU history, earning AVCA Second Team All-America honors, finishing with 1,173 career kills, 1,369 digs, and 100 aces. This was all before she starred in the sand, becoming an Olympian in beach volleyball, qualifying for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro with then-partner Lauren Fendrick.
Holly Youngquist, Evangelical Christian
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Youngquist was another standout at ECS, eclipsing 200 kills as a junior and senior, while adding 325 or more kills in both seasons as well. At FGCU, she earned ASUN All-Freshman Team honors, two second-team All-ASUN selections, was the 2011 Atlantic Sun Preseason Libero of the Year, and finished her career second in FGCU history with 1,652 digs.
Follow Sports Reporter Alex Martin on X at @NP_AlexMartin or via email: [email protected]. For the best sports coverage in Southwest Florida, follow @newspresssports and @ndnprepzone on Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Southwest Florida's top 25 volleyball players of the last 25 years
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