Texas volleyball signee Ayden Ames receives Gatorade's national player of the year award

Texas volleyball signee Ayden Ames received Gatorade's national player of the year award on Tuesday, a fitting cap to a stellar youth career.

Ames, a 6-foot-4 attacker from Prosper in North Texas, played at multiple spots in her high school and club career but will likely focus on middle blocker at Texas. Asjia O'Neal, one of the most decorated players in Texas history, will move on after six seasons in the middle, along with Bella Bergmark. That leaves redshirt freshman Marianna Singletary as the only middle currently on the Texas roster with any significant playing experience.

The Longhorns, who swept Nebraska in this year's national championship match, will try and win a third consecutive national title in 2024.

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That possibility of immediate playing time, along with Texas's history of producing elite middle blockers, helped Ames makes the decision to decommit from Nebraska and sign with Texas in November.

"Texas is my home," Ames said in a statement released by Texas after November's signing day. "As a middle blocker, I could not pass up the opportunity to become a part of the rich history of Middle Blocker University. Texas has produced some of the most successful middle blockers in the country, and I hope to take my game to the national level someday. Texas offers an unbelievable education, amazing fan base, and it's close to home. I cannot wait to play in front of Longhorn Nation"

This past summer, three middle blockers with Texas ties — UT exes Chiaka Ogbogu and Brionne Butler as well as O’Neal — competed for the U.S. national team at the Women’s Volleyball Nations League Finals.

Rated as the top prospect in Texas and the No. 3 national recruit for the class of 2024 by PrepDig, Ames is a versatile middle who played on the U.S. under-19 national team that won a FIVB World Championship this past summer. She was selected as an Under Armour All-American his season and ended her high school career at Prosper with 1,594 kills, 312 total blocks and 96 aces in three varsity seasons.

She ended her career at Prosper with a titanic game in a losing effort to eventual Class 6A state champion Conroe Grand Oaks. Ames fired a season-high 27 kills in a 3-2 loss in that state semifinal.

“Ayden Ames is a force whether she’s front or back row,” said Chris Tobolski, chief editor at Vballrecruiter, in a release from Gatorade. “She’s a dynamic attacker who not only puts tremendous pressure on defenses, she opens up the rest of the offense for her teammates because she draws so much of opponents’ attention. Just look at what she did against the eventual Texas 6A state champion in the postseason— what further proof could you want that she’s arguably the best player in the class of 2024?” 

Ames will enroll for the upcoming spring semester at Texas and be available for spring volleyball. She'll team with the 2021-22 Gatorade national player of the year Averi Carlson, another North Texas native who played setter her first two collegiate seasons season at Baylor but transferred to Texas for the upcoming semester.