Arizona volleyball hit all points on the court with its 2025 recruiting class, signing an outside hitter, an opposite, a middle blocker, a setter, and a libero/defensive specialist. The class brings depth for the 2025 season and beyond.
Paige Thies is the most highly-regarded of the five signees that head coach Rita Stubbs added for next year. The 6-foot-2 outside hitter from Oregon City, Ore. committed as soon as she could, announcing her commitment on June 16, 2023.
“Arizona has been my dream and as soon as Coach Rita called, I knew my answer would be yes and I would be done with my college search,” Thies said last June.
Thies was a Prep Volleyball second-team All-American in 2023 and was on MaxPreps’ Junior All-American team. Prep Dig as her as the top player in Oregon and the 39th player in the country. She was also the Oregon Gatorade Player of the Year last season.
Thies plays for Oregon City High School, where she set the career record for kills with 1,823 kills. She plays club ball for North Pacific Juniors, the same club that sent former Wildcat OH Paige Whipple (2017-2021) to Tucson.
“She’s always played up in club with the older group,” Stubbs said. “She has a very heavy arm.”
Thies will be competing with likely returners Jordan Wilson, Carlie Cisneros, and Sydnie Vanek at the OH position. She is the only one of the five recruits who is definitely not enrolling early. She will join the program next summer.
At the other pin, Arizona brings in Renee Jones. Jones is a 6-foot-5 opposite who reclassified from the 2024 class in June 2023. She committed to Arizona approximately a month later.
“It’s not common in volleyball, but it was something at the end of the day, I think she wasn’t getting what she wanted out of the recruiting process,” Stubbs said. “She had the opportunity to go to IMG to compete, and the facilities they have, their technology and whatnot, was something that she didn’t want to necessarily pass up as a result of not necessarily getting what she wanted out of the recruiting process.”
Jones’ twin Ryla is currently a freshman at Pittsburgh, which is ranked No. 1 in the country. The twins’ older sister Rainelle played middle blocker at Maryland and now plays professionally. All five Jones children will have played Division I athletics once Jones arrives. Both parents played basketball.
Jones started her high school career at Flint Hill High School in Oaktown, VA where she played both volleyball and basketball. She transferred to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. ahead of the 2023 season and has been there the past two seasons. In addition to playing club volleyball, she also spent time playing club basketball.
Stubbs was high on the fact that Jones is a lefty with elite size. She also has experience playing with top players. She comes in at a position of need since Arizona will lose Jaelyn Hodge after this year.
“Going into the (Big 12) conference, it was always one of those things where I didn’t necessarily know one way or the other, but knowing, if you’re in the Pac-12, we had to have size to slow down and compete, and then after you end up going through the process now and looking, it would be nice to have a big body in that position and someone that has played that position all along,” Stubbs said. “I think that there’s huge advantages to having people play the position they’ve played, just from the expertise and the knowledge point. She’s a lefty, so that is a dynamic to the game which we haven’t had in a while in that spot.”
Maya Flemister comes in at the middle blocker position. It will be another position of need for Arizona, which will lose both Kiari Robey and Alayna Johnson after this year. In addition to Flemister, Stubbs said she will look for another middle blocker in the transfer portal because she wants four on the roster.
Flemister is another player from an athletic family. Her mother played volleyball at Wake Forest and her father played football at Iowa and in the NFL.
The 6-foot-3 native of Colorado was a multisport athlete who played basketball and soccer, among other sports, before focusing on volleyball her freshman year in high school. She and Stubbs agree that getting used to the speed of the college game will be her biggest goal, but she has the tools to build on.
“She knows the game, and for her, it was just a matter of coming in and catching up with the speed of the game, but physically, she is someone that adds to what I like in terms of our big athletic players—good jumper, good athlete,” Stubbs said.
Flemister plays for Arapahoe High School. She has been with Elevation Volleyball Club for the past three years.
Setter Cloe Giehtbrock is the sister of Paige Giehtbrock, who plays outside hitter at Rider University. They were introduced to the sport by their mom, Dianne, who played in high school. Giehtbrock has played multiple positions but landed at setter in 2023.
She transferred to Marian High School in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. from Clarkston (MI) High School ahead of the 2023 season, so she was not allowed to play high school volleyball last year. This year, she finally found her way back onto the high school court.
Giehtbrock has spent eight years on the club volleyball scene. She spent five with Legacy, one with Michigan Elite, and two with L2.
With two setters expected to be on the roster next year and a relatively recent position change, Giehtbrock has time to develop. It has already been decided that she will redshirt her first season at Arizona.
The early redshirt decision isn’t common in volleyball (or many other sports) these days. Sometimes a player comes in with an injury or simply doesn’t play her freshman year, and the redshirt is applied later. That’s not the case with Giehtbrock, who Stubbs believes has the personality to deal with a redshirt.
“It’s mainly for two reasons,” Stubbs said. “You never want someone to slack off academically or athletically just because they’re like, ‘Oh, I’m not gonna play this year.’ So we want players to come in that are capable of playing, because we don’t have a luxury anymore of saying, ‘Okay, we’ll wait a year and then see what happens.’ Athletes are not as inclined to do that, so you gotta find special players that are willing to do it.”
Giehtbrock will have over a year to develop behind setters Ana Heath and Avery Scoggins since she is one of three players—and possibly four—who will arrive in Tucson in January.
The fifth player in the class is libero/defensive specialist Brookelyn Hatton, who comes to Arizona from Overland Park, Kan.
Prep Dig has Hatton as the top libero in Kansas and one of the top 10 players in the state. Prep Volleyball also has her on its national top 150 list. She was named to the AVCA Phenom list.
Arizona will lose Ava Tortorello at the DS position after this season. Stubbs is still waiting to see if Haven Wray will return. Wray graduates in December and is still trying to decide on graduate school. That decision could impact where Hatton fits in as Wray has been the defensive libero this season.
The Wildcats will likely return Brenna Ginder and Giorgia Mandotti next season. Ginder has been one of Arizona’s two liberos this year and will likely continue as the serve receive libero. Mandotti has had more difficulty getting on the court. Regardless of who returns, there are openings for Hatton to get on the court.
“She’s someone that will be vying to get on the floor in different areas,” Stubbs said. “Our goal is always to have four to five (littles) on the team. One that can pass and play defense, and one that could play defense and serve, another that is capable of going in in spot moments, and so it’ll be a matter of what she can do to get herself on the floor faster. Is it as a defender? Is it as a server? Both?”
Hatton will join Giehtbrock and Flemister in Tucson in January. The trio is graduating early to be on campus for spring practice. Jones could also join the team early, although that decision is not solidified yet. The only player who will definitely wait until summer is Thies.
“They have to get acclimated to what it’s like to lift weights, to go to class, to work hard in the gym, to buy into the culture of what we’re doing,” Stubbs said. “And it is with the mindset of playing. Even Chloe, who we know is anticipating redshirting, is coming in competing. You don’t get to wait and say, ‘Okay, well, my turn will come eventually,’ because nothing’s guaranteed, and there’s no promises on what tomorrow would look like. So the whole point of bringing these athletes in early is getting them acclimated to the college game as fast as possible. I’m a big advocate for all freshmen getting the opportunity to do this, should they be able to make it work within their academic schedule.”
Lead photo courtesy of Paige Thies
