Everything we published this month was a national list, and every national list in August tells you the same thing, which is that Texas and Mississippi have been playing longer than everybody else. That is accurate and it is also boring, and it buries a lot of players who are having big seasons in states that simply do not have the volume to crack a national board yet.

Five states, one category each

So we did it the other way around. Five states that are underway, one statistical category each, top five in each. Alabama on kills, Florida on digs, Oklahoma on assists, Tennessee on blocks, North Carolina on aces.

Nobody here is competing with anybody in another block. The point is that these are the five best in that state in that category right now, and in most cases nobody has written it down anywhere.

All 25, by state

Rank	Athlete	Pos	Class	High school	State	Total	Category	Sets	Per set
1	Hadley Kelly	MB	Sr.	Mobile Christian	AL	128	kills	23	5.57
2	Abby Tingle	MB	Sr.	Hoover	AL	111	kills	24	4.63
3	Aliya Stevenson	OH	Sr.	Fayette County	AL	102	kills	26	3.92
4	Ta'Maya Coman	OH	Sr.	Central, Florence	AL	101	kills	22	4.59
5	Maddie R. Sanders	MB	Jr.	Ashville	AL	99	kills	23	4.30
6	Sofia Zimmerman	L	So.	Keystone Heights	FL	303	digs	24	12.63
7	Mia Rivera	OH	Sr.	Keystone Heights	FL	166	digs	23	7.22
8	Karlee Noah	L	Sr.	Santa Fe, Alachua	FL	127	digs	21	6.05
9	Victoria Horne	RS	Jr.	Keystone Heights	FL	118	digs	24	4.92
10	Ava Alcorn	L	Jr.	Branford	FL	113	digs	14	8.07
11	Jentri Reese Denwalt	S	So.	Mount St. Mary, Oklahoma City	OK	378	assists	40	9.45
12	Samantha Scott	S	So.	Heritage Hall, Oklahoma City	OK	255	assists	28	9.11
13	Tessa Groff	S	Sr.	Inola	OK	211	assists	30	7.03
14	Darcy Shuck	S	Jr.	Edmond Santa Fe	OK	210	assists	38	5.53
15	Lilian Underwood	S	Jr.	Edmond North	OK	205	assists	39	5.26
16	Kami Clark	MB	Sr.	West Ridge, Blountville	TN	26	blocks	28	0.93
17	Adilynn McDavid	MB	Sr.	West Ridge, Blountville	TN	26	blocks	28	0.93
18	Madison Sykes	MB	Sr.	Dobyns-Bennett, Kingsport	TN	25	blocks	21	1.19
19	Josie Ladd	MB	Jr.	Nolensville	TN	25	blocks	24	1.04
20	Brynn Pennington	MB	Sr.	Franklin	TN	25	blocks	26	0.96
21	Skylar Anderson	OH	So.	Jones Senior, Trenton	NC	40	aces	17	2.35
22	Madilynn Moore	OH	Jr.	Southside, Chocowinity	NC	38	aces	22	1.73
23	Fiona McDonald	MB	Jr.	Mallard Creek, Charlotte	NC	37	aces	37	1.00
24	Juniper Wells	MB	Jr.	Excelsior Classical Academy, Durham	NC	37	aces	32	1.16
25	Savanna Parsons	OH	Sr.	Glenn, Kernersville	NC	36	aces	29	1.24

Alabama: kills

Alabama opened later than Texas and it shows in the sets column, where nobody here has cracked 30. Hadley Kelly at Mobile Christian is the only player in the state over 120, and her 5.57 per set would sit comfortably inside the national top ten if she had played the same number of sets as the players on that board.

Florida: digs

Keystone Heights has three of the top four dig totals in the state of Florida. Sofia Zimmerman's 303 in 24 sets works out to 12.63 per set, which is higher than any figure on the national dig board we published this month, including Rhylee Green's 12.41 at Ganado. Ava Alcorn at Branford has played 14 sets, fewest of anyone in the top five in any state on this page, and she is at 8.07.

Oklahoma: assists

Jentri Reese Denwalt is the only Oklahoman on the national assist board, sitting 29th nationally with 378, and she has a 123-assist lead on the next setter in her own state. Samantha Scott at Heritage Hall is running an almost identical offense at 9.11 per set in 12 fewer sets, and if her schedule matches Denwalt's over the rest of the fall this becomes a race.

Tennessee: blocks

West Ridge in Blountville has the top two blockers in Tennessee and their lines are identical, 26 blocks in 28 sets each. Whatever else is true about that front row, opposing teams have to pick a side. Madison Sykes at Dobyns-Bennett has the best rate in the state at 1.19 in 21 sets.

North Carolina: aces

Skylar Anderson at Jones Senior in Trenton has 40 aces in 17 sets. That is 2.35 per set, and it is better than the top rate on the national ace board we published this month, where Addy Conway at Forestburg leads at 2.08. Seventeen sets is a small sample and we will say so plainly, but the number is the number.

On the cusp

Ava Alcorn (Branford FL), Skylar Anderson (Jones Senior NC), Hadley Kelly (Mobile Christian AL), Samantha Scott (Heritage Hall OK), Madison Sykes (Dobyns-Bennett TN).

One from each state, chosen the same way in every case. These five have the best per-set rate in their block and the fewest sets played, which is exactly the combination the raw totals hide. Check back on all five in October.

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*Stats as of Aug. 26, 2026.