The Prospect Report: News and Notes from June 18th

News and Notes from Tuesday of Week 1 Class of 2026 Open Period:

The Pitt and Louisville Rivalry continues:  Two 5 set matches last season.  Bitter conference rivals and now it looks like they are both trying to WIN Week 1 of recruiting the Class of 2026.  I kid, but it is ironic how similar these programs are in strength, though they are vastly different in how they are run and constructed.  Both twitter accounts have hinted at multiple verbals and if the prospects I’ve been hearing said yes…..it will set each program up for another Top 5-10 class.    ***While typing this Isabelle Hoppe (Setter) verbally to Pitt.  That was their #1 option at the position.

**Bruins on a run…..Love the start UCLA has had in ’26.  First gaining a verbal from Arizona MB Brooke Harwood was a gigantic WIN.  Harwood was on the shortlist of nearly every Top 25 program looking for a MB and is as talented of a defensive middle as their is in the class.  Then landing our top Cali Libero in Presley Thompson of WAVE.

**See of Red…..Badger Nation could soon be celebrating  some program changing commits in the next 24 hours.  Wisconsin already has a verbal from Tarnow our #2 MB so they could be challenging Texas for #1 recruiting class by the time Wednesday ends.

***Penn State off and running:  Happy Valley has to be loving the start of this 2026 class.  Danielle Whitmire is a diverse option for the team.  She is fine on the pin while playing behind Izzy Starck and can be a patch option at Setter.  Finley Krystowiak is powerful and versatile.  Her personality is so easy to like and she has an underrated game.  I think both of those commits are perfect.

***Huskers panicking? Some Nebraska fans are slowly starting to wonder when they will get in on the action?  That won’t be helped if their Big Ten rivals cause a stir later on, but the Huskers will be just fine.  They have traditionally grabbed some big recruits later in the Summer (and let’s remember that is when we would ideally like prospects to commit anyway).  There is still a pocket of 3-4 top OH’s that will take their time.  Nebraska is in on the top 2.  Also 2 of the top 3 middles in this class are taking their time and you have to believe Nebraska is more than in the mix.

***Setter Dominoes Tuesday:

Not sure the order, but a 1 or 2 verbals set off potentially 4 setter commits.

Hoppe: Pitt, Matheny: IU, Eva Long NC State and one soon to announce ACC setter all decided within about 3 hours of each other on Tuesday.

**Waiting on the mailman:  We just received our first “hey I committed, but I have to wait to days for my t-shirt to come in the mail.”  This move was made famous last year by USC Setter commit Reese Messer, when everyone was waiting on her post for a couple of days.  When it finally came she said “I didn’t have a t-shirt so had to order one online”.  This ironically is another West Coast school lol.

More to come as I’m guessing many of these commits wait until evening to make things public.

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