Liberos and defensive specialists get written about less than anybody else in this sport, which has never made much sense to us given how many college coaches spend their recruiting budget on exactly that position. So here is the national dig board, all classes, as it stands three weeks into a season that has only started in part of the country.

Who leads the country in digs?

Karsyn Evans at Aledo leads it with 418 digs in 51 sets. Beach standout Ashley Ruschill of McKinney Boyd, who did not play club this past season, is second with 390, and she has done it in 44 sets, which is 8.86 per set and the best rate of anyone in the top ten. Gianna Dominguez at Chapin in El Paso sits third with 375.

Why this board is a calendar, not a talent ranking

One thing to keep in mind reading it. Twenty-two of the top 25 are from Texas and the other three are from Mississippi, which tells you which states have played 40 or more sets by the last week of August rather than where the best back-row players in America live. Ask us again in October.

National dig leaders: the full top 25

Rank	Athlete	Pos	Class	High school	State	Digs	Sets	Per set	VBR
1	Karsyn Evans	L	Sr.	Aledo	TX	418	51	8.20	—
2	Ashley Ruschill	L	So.	McKinney Boyd	TX	390	44	8.86	—
3	Gianna Dominguez	L	Jr.	Chapin, El Paso	TX	375	49	7.65	—
4	Camryn Bruder	L	Sr.	Burleson	TX	327	51	6.41	—
5	Makayla Escobedo	DS	Jr.	Madison, San Antonio	TX	324	46	7.04	—
6	Piper Marquart	L	Sr.	Ridge Point	TX	298	57	5.23	—
7	Ariana Juanes	L	Sr.	Franklin, El Paso	TX	284	45	6.31	—
8	Tiara Cooks	DS	Sr.	McCallum	TX	282	49	5.76	—
9	Madison Moody	L	Sr.	Smithson Valley	TX	280	44	6.36	—
10	Emily Redwine	L	Sr.	Denton	TX	280	47	5.96	3-star
11	Lillian Adams	L	Jr.	Eagle Mountain	TX	278	52	5.35	3-star
12	Savannah Hoak	DS	Jr.	East Central, Moss Point	MS	276	62	4.45	—
13	Louisa Ertischek	L	So.	Lake Creek	TX	276	65	4.25	—
14	Emma Davis	L	Sr.	Leander	TX	275	51	5.39	—
15	Rhylee Green	—	Sr.	Ganado	TX	273	22	12.41	—
16	Addison Mayo	L	Sr.	Flour Bluff	TX	269	43	6.26	—
17	Xyanna Stephens	L	Sr.	Lake Travis	TX	265	49	5.41	—
18	Kenzie Ressler	OH	Sr.	West Rusk	TX	263	40	6.58	—
19	Maddy Merkelz	—	Sr.	Buna	TX	257	41	6.27	—
20	Raydon Stewart	L	Jr.	Northwest, Justin	TX	256	47	5.45	—
21	Kinzie Drake	L	Sr.	Cedar Ridge	TX	254	55	4.62	—
22	Reagan Johnson	L	Jr.	East Union	MS	253	46	5.50	—
23	Ashley Shreves	—	Fr.	Springtown	TX	253	59	4.29	—
24	Anna Holladay Craft	L	Sr.	Jackson Academy	MS	250	53	4.72	—
25	Trinity Johnson	OH	Jr.	McKinney Boyd	TX	249	44	5.66	4-star

Best digs per set: look at No. 15 again

Rhylee Green at Ganado has 273 digs in 22 sets. Twenty-two. That is 12.41 per set, and the closest anybody else on this board gets is 8.86. Green has played roughly a third of the volleyball that the players around her have played and she is fifteenth in the country anyway.

If Ganado's schedule fills out the way most Texas schedules do, she is going to finish somewhere near the top of this list, and she is currently the least visible name on it.

The programs with two on the board

McKinney Boyd has two, Ruschill at No. 2 and Trinity Johnson at No. 25. Aledo has Evans here and Kaelee Berkley on the senior kills board. Burleson has Bruder at No. 4 in digs and Anna Davis leading the country in blocks.

On the cusp

Louisa Ertischek (Lake Creek TX), Kinzie Drake (Cedar Ridge TX), Ashley Shreves (Springtown TX).

All three are inside the top 25 on volume and all three have played 55 sets or more, which puts their per-set rates in the bottom third of this list. Worth watching as the sample evens out.

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*Stats as of Aug. 26, 2026.