Penn State Volleyball’s 8 Star Camp Brings Together 2027 Commits, Top Prospects

Posted on by Ethan Kasales

The Penn State women’s volleyball program hosted its premier annual 8 Star Camp Thursday, June 11 at Rec Hall, as four of its 2027 commits and dozens of top prospects from around the country converged on University Park.

Penn State commits Taylor Harrington, Nejari Crooks, Molly Robertson, and Kate Kalczynski caught up and posed for photos together afterward. Fellow Penn State commit Olivia Henry, who attended last year’s 8 Star Camp, was unable to make it due to a scheduling conflict.

The day featured tours of campus and the facilities, information sessions with Penn State’s coaching staff, and some scrimmaging in Rec Hall’s main gym. The current team served as counselors. DigNittanyVolleyball did not attend this year’s 8 Star Camp, so we don’t have any photos to share with you.

Originally called the 7 Star Camp, it was first held in 2022, ahead of Katie Schumacher-Cawley’s first season as head coach of the Nittany Lions, and has since become one of the most coveted invites of the summer for high school volleyball players.

Schumacher-Cawley became the first female head coach to lead a Division I women’s indoor volleyball team to a NCAA national championship victory in 2024, beating the Louisville Cardinals 3-1 in their home city.

Below are some of the notable uncommitted prospects from the 2028-2030 recruiting classes who attended this year’s 8 Star Camp. It’s quite a talent-rich group.

2028: Michigan middle blocker McKenzie Andrews, Arizona middle blocker Amari Frazier, Nebraska libero Averi Bridges, Texas libero Sara Gonzalez

2029: Florida setter Ellie Enger, Michigan setter Kaelyn Easton, Florida pin hitter Mikayla Matuszko, North Carolina pin hitter Naomi Stevenson, Virginia middle blocker Caroline Conroy, Virginia setter/right-side hitter Carolyn Maria, Kansas setter/pin hitter Collyns Livermore, California pin hitter Lily Vandeweghe

2030: Florida pin hitter Nina Simanic, Virginia outside hitter Nadia Wooten, North Carolina setter Brady Collins

A handful of attendees, including some of Penn State’s 2027 commits, are part of this year’s U.S. U19 and U17 national teams.

Harrington, Crooks, Henry, and Bridges are among 20 athletes chosen to train July 9-16 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Fourteen will make the final roster for the 2026 NORCECA Women’s U19 Continental Championship, held July 17-25 in San José, Costa Rica.

Andrews, Matuszko, and Stevenson helped the U.S. U17 team win gold with a 4-0 record, culminating in a 3-1 win over Venezuela, at the 2026 NORCECA Girls’ U17 Pan American Cup this May in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Easton and Enger were recently named to the 14-player roster for the 2026 FIVB Girls’ U17 World Championship, held August 6-16 in Santiago, Chile.

This Monday, June 15 marks the first day that college coaching staffs can begin contacting 2028 prospects, who will be juniors in high school this fall. Last year, Crooks and Harrington both verbally committed to the Nittany Lions on June 16, then Henry joined them in Penn State’s 2027 recruiting class on June 17.

Robertson, an in-state standout from North Allegheny High School in Wexford, PA, verbally committed to Penn State on July 26, 2025. Kalczynski became the fifth member of the program’s 2027 class on April 19, 2026 after flipping her commitment from Ohio State to the Nittany Lions. Penn State’s 2027 haul is likely to finish as the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class.

Penn State will almost certainly take fewer high school commitments in its 2028 class due to roster constraints, so the competition will be fierce to see who ends up jumping on their scholarship offer when Schumacher-Cawley and her staff begin making calls June 15.