We’ll get to Rylee Rader, and why the junior middle blocker from national champion Assumption is PrepVolleyball.com’s 2018 National Junior Player of the Year. First, a personal note.

There seems to be some debate as to what type of awards a middle blocker can and cannot win. I was covering volleyball for The Orange County Register in 2009 when Newport Harbor, coached by Dan Glenn, won a CIF and state championship and finished No. 7 in PVB’s final National Rankings (behind national champion Archbishop Mitty).