Takeaways From Penn State Volleyball’s Talent-Packed 8 Star Camp II

Posted on by Ethan Kasales

The Penn State women’s volleyball program held its 8 Star Camp II on Wednesday at Rec Hall, welcoming dozens of the nation’s top high school prospects to campus for what has become one of the most popular volleyball camps in the country.

Penn State’s entire 18-player 2025 roster served as counselors, including new arrivals Kennedy Martin, Alexis Ewing, and Addie Lyon. The 2024 team received its national championship rings in a surprise ceremony at the end of camp. Prospects and their families soon gathered around the players and coaches to take a closer look at the ornate rings and share in the excitement.

After being called the 7 Star Camp the last three years, Penn State volleyball’s premier talent showcase obviously required a name update following the program’s eighth NCAA national title, a 3-1 win over Louisville on December 22. Interest in the camp has grown so much that the coaching staff added a second date a couple years ago. This year, 8 Star Camp II, which took place on June 11, was absolutely loaded with high-level recruits.

Three of Penn State’s four 2026 commits participated in Wednesday’s camp, but middle blocker Kendall Northern (Prep Dig’s No. 14 overall prospect in the class) had to leave early to catch a flight, so she was unable to compete in the afternoon scrimmages. Fellow Penn State commits Danielle Whitmire (No. 5 overall) and Finley Krystkowiak (No. 11 overall) impressed in that setting, showing why they’re such highly regarded recruits at setter and outside hitter, respectively.

“I love Finley,” Whitmire told DigNittanyVolleyball last fall. “I knew her before we even committed together, so whenever we committed, it just grew our relationship. We talk every day. We’re best friends.”

Whitmire shined in last year’s 7 Star Camp a few days before verbally committing to the Nittany Lions, and has since seen her recruiting stock soar as one of the best players from talent-laden Texas. Haley Burgdorf (No. 35 overall) was with her club team, Sports Performance VBC, at AAU Nationals in Orlando, Florida, during this year’s 8 Star Camp II, which is why the Illinois outside hitter couldn’t join her future teammates for a day of tours, Q&As, and scrimmaging.

There was also a cool display on the concourse that campers could check out, featuring tons of team-issued Nike gear, several Penn State jerseys, all eight national championship trophies, and the 2024 title banner that will soon hang from the rafters at Rec Hall. It will be unveiled to the masses before Penn State’s 2025 home opener against Kentucky on September 5.

Krystkowiak echoed Whitmire’s sentiments about Penn State’s 2026 commits being a close-knit group, saying, “We’re all best friends already. I think we’re going to have a really fun time together. We all have a group chat, so I’m excited to finally get to come here with them.”

Finley Krystkowiak (left) and Danielle Whitmire share a hug after Wednesday’s camp. Photo: Ethan Kasales

Krystkowiak, a powerful outside hitter who represents WAVE Volleyball Club in Southern California, shared what she enjoys most about Katie Schumacher-Cawley, the first female head coach to win a Division I women’s volleyball national championship, during an exclusive interview with DigNittanyVolleyball while on her official visit to campus last fall.

“Just her coaching style,” she said. “Her connection with each of the players is so strong, and she trusts them and values them, and shows each of them that she cares for them. I think she’s there as a good friend to have, too.”

Northern, one of the most athletic middle blockers in the 2026 recruiting class, who has already received her invite to the prestigious Under Armour All-America Volleyball Match, also expressed a strong comfort level with the Penn State staff and players.

“I really like the coaching staff,” Northern said last fall. “I enjoy being around the players. I think they’re all great people and they’re amazing players who I look up to, so I think, just being around them and kind of feeding off their energy, has shown me what eventually being here is going to be like.”

Some of the notable 2027 standouts (with their new Prep Dig national ranking in parentheses) who attended an 8 Star Camp this year include: Olivia Henry (2), Shaye Witherspoon (10), Nejari Crooks (11), Taylor Harrington (16), Caroline Ward (19), Keilani Ledaja-Brewer (21), Carsyn Comer (22), Mallory Johnson (68), and Molly Robertson (unranked). Robertson, a setter from North Allegheny High School in the Pittsburgh suburb of Wexford, is the lone Pennsylvania native on this list.

Sunday, June 15 has been circled on many 2027 prospects’ calendars for months, in anticipation of Division I college volleyball coaches finally being permitted to contact the rising junior class and present scholarship offers. Sunday will likely begin a barrage of verbal commitments across the country next week, and if previous years and the program’s upward trajectory are any indication, the Nittany Lions will be in the mix for commitments from several of their top targets.

From left: Caroline Ward, Taylor Harrington, Shaye Witherspoon, Olivia Henry, and Nejari Crooks. Photo: Ethan Kasales

Henry, Harrington, and Crooks, all of whom have significant USA volleyball NTDP experience, like many of the other 8 Star Camp attendees, were recently named to the 12-player U.S. roster for the 2025 NORCECA U19 Pan-American Cup June 24-28 in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Witherspoon and Ward are among seven U.S. alternates for the event.

Penn State women’s volleyball has long been a national brand that has attracted talent from all over the U.S. and the globe, but Schumacher-Cawley and her staff have been on an absolute tear on the recruiting trail since she took over the head coaching job from seven-time national champion Russ Rose, something Rose must be pleased to see.

Although they have different coaching styles, the two share similar philosophies when it comes to recruiting and player development once they arrive at Penn State. This place isn’t for everyone, and that’s okay. The standards are always going to be incredibly high. They want players who will put the team first, above all else.

To paraphrase a comment Schumacher-Cawley made about the 2024 team, at the program’s alumnae weekend/championship banner unveiling in early May at the Nittany Lion Inn, “We may not have had the best players [from top to bottom] last season, but we had the best team.”

One of the stars of that 2024 team, Penn State’s fifth AVCA National Freshman of the Year, Izzy Starck, attended the 2023 7 Star Camp before her senior season at Viera High School in Florida. Ava Falduto, Gabrielle Nichols, Lexi Gin, Marin Collins, Ava Jurevicius, and Karis Willow are fellow current Nittany Lions who competed in 7 Star Camps before enrolling at Penn State.

Nichols recently made the 12-player USA volleyball roster for the 2025 FIVB Girls’ U19 World Championship July 2-13 in Croatia and Serbia. Nichols trained with several of the 2027 standouts from 8 Star Camp II earlier this month in Colorado Springs, Colorado, as USA volleyball routinely hosts training camps for various teams at the same time.

From left: Maggie Mendelson, Gillian Grimes, Caroline Jurevicius, and Izzy Starck try on their national championship rings at the end of camp on June 11. Photo: Ethan Kasales

Schumacher-Cawley and Rose also truly care about making significant impacts in their players’ lives — on-campus during their careers, of course, but also in the decades after they took off their knee pads for the final time.

The duty of upholding the tradition of success of the Penn State women’s volleyball program falls on today’s players, but there are hundreds of alumnae who came before them, who laid the foundation and are frequently stopping by to provide wisdom and encouragement.

Penn State great and two-time Olympic medalist (2020 gold, 2024 silver) Haleigh Washington attended last year’s Final Four and was seen heading into the locker room to give the team a speech before its matches against Nebraska and Louisville. Penn State players recalled afterward that Washington told them to not have any regrets and leave all the energy they had on the floor.

Several months before the Nittany Lions eventually hoisted the 2024 NCAA trophy that weekend in Louisville, Kentucky, setter commit Danielle Whitmire foreshadowed Penn State’s latest national championship during an October interview.

“I wanted to come to a place that has a huge legacy,” Whitmire said. “I feel like, consistently, they uphold their legacy. I think that’s really cool and something really great to be a part of.”