Ella Rathke is a tall, imposing defender from Colorado who showed an innate ability to shut down the transition game at New Balance All-America. She absorbs contact extremely well and is not afraid to body up in transition. A fundamentally sound defender with a textbook stance, Rathke watches the ball well and gets a ton of knockdowns and caused turnovers in settled play as a result. She is disciplined, staying patient during extended offensive sets and waiting for her angle to strike rather than chasing turnovers. West Coast programs looking to bolster their back end should be calling Rathke at noon on September 1, but her defensive effort this weekend may earn her some additional East Coast calls as well.