Players to watch in the 2023 AVP season

The year before the Olympics are the most important opportunities for up-and-coming players to establish themselves as bona fide main-draw talent. Many of the top teams will be on the road at Volleyball World events, fighting for Olympic points, which leaves space for the tweeners — mid to lower main draw and upper qualifier talent — to make moves.

Such was the case last weekend at AVP Miami, when the tournament coincided with Volleyball World in La Paz, Mexico.

Below are the players to watch, or stocks to buy, as I’ve called them the last two years, in the 2023 AVP season.

Katie Dickens

Dickens — formerly Lindelow, for the LSU fans — is one of the best defenders you might not have heard of. She cleaned up in the Tour Series last year, making three semifinals and the final in Waupaca. She finished her season with a third in Central Florida defending for Carly Skjodt, losing a white-knuckler to Emily Capers and Geena Urango. I’d expect Dickens to continue that trajectory in 2023.

Carly Skjodt

King. Carl. I’ve loved Skjodt’s physical style of play since I watched her play her grad year at Pepperdine after an All-American career as an outside at the University of Michigan. She’s refined her game since, adding some touch and finesse, a refining that caught the eye of Geena Urango, the Atlanta champ who picked up Skjodt to block for her in Miami.

Deahna Kraft

Like Skjodt, Kraft is a Pepperdine-molded blocker who made huge moves in her 2022 rookie season. She finished third in her first event, in Muskegon with Allie Wheeler, added another third in Atlantic City, then beat Lili and Larissa Maestrini in the Virginia finals to win her first event. She has AVP points, Volleyball World points, blocks well, defends well, and will be one of the first phone calls when a dissatisfied defender needs a blocker.

Maddie Anderson

If I had to put all my chips in one basket this season, I’d be backing up the truck and betting every last penny on Maddie Anderson. In three years — including the COVID-shortened 2020 season — she’s 85-21 at Florida State. In three professional events last summer with Molly Turner, she won a gold in a Futures out of the qualifier, qualified for the Dubai Challenge, then won silver in the subsequent Challenge in Dubai. When she graduates from Florida State, she’ll pick up again with Turner, which will be my dark horse team to win an AVP this season.

Avery…