Tough choices as VolleyballMag.com presents its 2023 Girls HS All-Americans

VolleyballMag.com presents its 2023 High School All-Americans in three teams of 14 standouts each with 56 additional impact performers receiving honorable-mention recognition.

The three teams, consisting of two setters, two defenders, four middles and six pins per team, were determined after consultation with many of the nation’s premier coaches and prep writers. They were asked to identify those players who, without regard to class year or career achievement, made the biggest impacts on their teams and states in 2023.

I have been choosing high school All-Americans for almost 25 years. The task was impossible when I picked 150 annually for PrepVolleyball.com between 2003 and 2019. It was even more agonizing choosing just 42 for VolleyballMag.com this year.

Simply stated, there are just too many talented players out there! That’s a good thing, but it makes choosing who makes the list versus who misses it an arduous, stress-inducing exercise.

The first team consists of eight players who won state titles in 2023. It includes three others who represented the USA on its Gold Medal-winning U19 team and three others considered among the best nationally at their positions.

The second and third teams are similarly loaded, with state championship MVPs and supreme talents.

Congrats to those selected, as well as to all of our honorable-mention picks and the thousands of others who had outstanding campaigns in 2023. The latter may not be on this list but they are not forgotten.

First team

S: Charlie Fuerbringer, 5-11 Sr., Mira Costa (Manhattan Beach, California)
S: Stella Swenson, 6-2 Sr., Wayzata (Plymouth, Minnesota)

S/OH: Izzy Starck, 6-1 Sr., Viera (Florida)
OH: Ayden Ames, 6-4 Sr., Prosper (Texas)
OH: Lauren Harden, 6-3 Sr., Hamilton Southeastern (Fishers, Indiana)
OH: Payton Petersen, 5-11 Sr., Dike-New Hartford (Dike, Iowa)
OH: Emerson Sellman, 6-4 Sr., Academy of the Holy Cross (Kensington, Maryland)

OH: Teraya Sigler, 6-2 Jr., Horizon (Scottsdale, Arizona)
MB: Jenna Hanes, 6-3 Sr., Cathedral Catholic (San Diego, California)
MB: Julia Hunt, 6-2 Sr., Holy Cross (Covington, Kentucky)
MB: Elise Marchal, 6-0 Sr., Kings (Kings Mill, Ohio)
MB: Logan Wiley, 6-2 Sr., Alpharetta (Georgia)
Libero: Kristen Simon, 5-7 Jr., Assumption (Louisville, Kentucky)
Libero: Aniya…