One More Libero Question!

Greetings,

My daughter is 4 feet 10 inches plays Libero-- will she be able to make it in for college volleyball?


Do we have a chance if her skills are great but height isn't there?

We are looking in CA for colleges.

Thank you,
LH

Yes because ultimately, your daughter's collegiate opportunity will be determined by her ability.

Some coaches prefer tall liberos, while other coaches prefer small liberos, but all coaches prefer talent.

I will caution you to have extreme patience in your recruiting process.  As I have written about in Inside College Volleyball, that when it comes to recruiting priority, Liberos are Last.  And, to further test your patience, because a certain number of college coaches lean toward taller liberos, this will reduce the pool of first look programs.

Liberos usually find their collegiate home during their Senior year and in the spring.  This is due to the quality and quantity of Libero talent in club volleyball.  This allows college coaches to focus in on other positions first, then circle back in the Senior year to secure a really good libero.

To this end, don't get stressed out about recruiting as an underclassmen.  Take the first couple of years high school age club volleyball and focus on skill development.  Because of the height, make sure you stand out with your skills.  You can always pass better, you can always have better movement to the ground, you can always communicate better, you can always have quicker footwork and reactions, etc.  

In your Junior year of club, start to reach out to colleges which are a good fit academically, athletically, geographically and socially while understanding that this is just the opening serve.  

The silver lining of selecting your college your Senior year of high school, is less time from selecting to arriving for a negative volleyball situation to happen.  If a player commits as a freshman, that is 4 years for something bad to occur - coach quits, coach gets fired, coach takes new job, injuries/academic changes reshuffle the roster, an international player or college transfer arrives in your position, etc.

Focus on skill development and consistent outreach, and above all, show extreme patience!

Good luck!