Portions of this article courtesy of Arizona Communication Services
(TUCSON, AZ) Arizona volleyball inked a pair of top-100 recruits on National Signing Day on Wednesday, head coach Dave Rubio announced. Kamaile Hiapo, a libero from Mesa, Arizona, and Simone Overbeck, an outside hitter from Newbury Park, California both sent in National Letters of Intent to continue their careers at Arizona.
Overbeck is rated as the 72nd-best prospect and Hiapo is No. 76 in PrepVolleyball’s Top 100 Senior Aces.
“We’re very excited about this class and very happy to have Kamaile and Simone as Wildcats,” said head coach Dave Rubio. “They’re both elite athletes who fit very well with the makeup of our team in the years ahead. We lose three key pieces in three seniors after this season, and we think our 2019 class will help fill those voids.”
Simone Overbeck
6-0, Outside Hitter
Newbury Park, Calif. (Newbury Park H.S.)
Coach Rubio says: Simone Overbeck is a terrific athlete. She’s quick, fast, long and has elite first-step movement skills. She can leap and swing her arm. We think she can train to be a six-rotation left side hitter. Also, because she’s so versatile athletically, we believe she could offer depth even as a right side player and be an outstanding second-tempo attacker. She is someone who has a foundation of athletic skill that’s conducive to being a six-rotation outside hitter in our system. She comes from the same mold of a lot of the players we have on the team now that came in as elite athletes but haven’t had the same exposure to the sport that a lot of other players have. She’s excited to be here and comes from an athletic family; her sister is a Pac-12 basketball player. So Simone has the right competitive make-up and knows what it takes to excel, both athletically and academically at this level.”
PrepVolleyball says: An all-league performer in three sports, volleyball, basketball and lacrosse, and quite possibly the best all-around, multi-sport athlete in this class, Overbeck will focus her efforts on volleyball at the next level. Her club volleyball experience has been limited, but Overbeck is an overwhelming attacker and blocker even now. Her speed, jumping ability and fast arm allow her to score on either pin or as a play-set attacker. She has outstanding hand-eye coordination and her platform skills have improved significantly over the past year. Despite limited experience in the sport, Overbeck has the kind of explosiveness that, when coupled with her coordination, make her a prospect bound to take off with a single-sport focus at Arizona, where she has committed.
Kamaile Hiapo
5-7, Libero
Mesa, Ariz. (Skyline H.S.)
Coach Rubio says: Kamaile is 5-6 or 5-7, but when you watch her play, you don’t ask how tall she is because she does so much despite her size. She’s going to come here and be a libero, but she’s always been the do-everything, six-rotation outside hitter and she is in the middle of everything that goes on on every play on every team she’s ever been on. So she passes, she serves, she sets, she attacks, she just plays the game, and plays it at a very high level. Kamaile is the best prospect coming out of high school at this position that anyone on our staff has ever recruited in terms of her skill level from her platform, her overhand skills, her serve/receive, digging attackers and seeing/reading the game. She’s an elite prospect. We think she’s the best volleyball player in the state of Arizona.
PrepVolleyball says: Many would suggest that Hiapo is the best volleyball player in Arizona regardless of position. A do-it-all player in high school (where she has been known to pass the entire court… by herself) and club, look for Hiapo to transition to the back row at the collegiate level. The progeny of NCAA volleyball coaches (she also has a brother who won a national championship at BYU), Hiapo simply knows the game and can execute at a high level regardless of the skill needed. She is a powerful terminator, knows her way around a set, passes with precision and defends with reckless abandon. Kamaile is in the middle of everything happening on her team’s side of the net… on every play. A fearless competitor driven to greatness, Hiapo has the athletic ability and innate volleyball skill to be an impact libero at Arizona, where she has committed.
Click on our sponsor’s logo for more information
