Volleyball Recruiting Blog: Top setters returning next season

Johns Creek will be returning Class of 2026 prospect Adonia Haile—who surpassed 1,000 career assists last September while starring for the Gladiators. Haile and Johns Creek finished 25-9 last season after dropping a tough 3-2 loss to Sequoyah in the first round. In that defeat, Haile matched her season-high with 28 assists. Haile finished her junior season with a team-high 556 assists and had just 16 ball handling errors in 88 sets played. The 5-foot-7 setter tallied 179 assists as a freshman and then posted 485 assists as a sophomore in 114 sets played. Haile has increased her impact, while decreasing the errors and will be a pivotal piece for Johns Creek this season with both Sara Buoni and Hana Catic returning after breakout sophomore campaigns where they led Johns Creek with 275 and 232 kills, respectively.

Similar to Johns Creek with Haile, Cartersville will return its own Class of 2026 standout with setter Aubree Barrett next season. Barrett finished this past season with a team-high 527 assists and has 1,179 career assists after posting a breakout sophomore season with 650. As a freshman, the 5-foot-5 Barrett contributed at the net and had 96 kills before transitioning into the team’s setter.

Class 4A state champion Pace Academy has a lot of talent returning from this past year’s 43-6 squad that closed out the year on a 10-match win-streak. Helping to lead the way will be Class of 2026 standout Britton McGurn—who led the Knights with 462 assists last season in 98 sets played with just 13 BHE. The 5-foot-6 setter is a multi-sport star that also plays soccer and basketball and is coming off her most productive volleyball season yet. After posting 96 assists and a freshman and 120 assists her sophomore year, McGurn made a major leap forward with 462 assists and is poised for an even bigger senior campaign.

Norcross had one of its best seasons in program history last season—compiling a 36-6 overall record and eventually falling to two-time defending state champion Alpharetta in the playoffs 3-1. The Blue Devils have plenty to be optimistic about this upcoming season and will have Ellie Ruth Blue back after her incredible 1,142-assist junior season. The 5-foot-6 setter and A5 Gwinnett standout is a three-year starter that surpassed 1,500 career assists last year and helped her team lock up the No. 1 seed. Notably, Blue led Norcross with 56 assists in the team’s 3-1 win over Denmark and she had 51 assists in the Blue Devils’ 3-2 win over Buford before she tallied 38 assists in the 3-1 defeat to Alpharetta.