A Look at Top Performers from Heartland Cup Power League Pool Play

On the final weekend of the Heartland Cup Power League, there were several standouts in the pool play portion of competition on Saturday at the Abbott Sports Center in Lincoln.

The championship brackets for the Open divisions this weekend will be completed on Sunday at Nebraska Elite in Omaha. Here is a look at players who stood out that I got a chance to watch on Saturday.

The best player on saw on the day was junior Anna McLain (Lincoln Pius X) of VCNebraska 17 Black. McLain was dropping the hammer all afternoon and is simply an impressive athlete. McLain is currently ranked #49 in our Class of 2019 rankings and has a really bright future ahead of her if she wants to play college volleyball. A little undersized at 5’10, McLain’s sweet spot for college would be mid-level Division II or NAIA – where she would be an absolute standout.

A player who really deserves a lot of credit as well for VCNebraska 17 Black is Jessica Malizzi (Gretna). The 5’8 OH/DS is ranked #154 in the Class of 2019 rankings, but Malizzi has really worked her tail off over the past few years to become a really nice, versatile player on the court. Malizzi isn’t dominant at any one thing, but she is a steady attacker, can hit well out of the back row, plays nice defense and can definitely play in the NAIA ranks.

Nebraska Elite 15 Revolution had a pair of players doing really nice things. Shayla McCormick (Skutt Catholic) looked real athletic and has some great length while Allison Petry (Council Bluffs St. Albert), despite being an undersized attacker, was strong and put up a solid block.

I don’t like talking about kids until they are at least into their summer before high school, but it was hard not to notice some of the 8^th graders that were playing in the 15/16 Open division on Saturday.

Playing for VCNebraska 15 Elite, Wahoo’s Mya Larson, a 5’10 OH, is absolutely the real deal, as is Papillion-LaVista South 5’10 8^th grader Ava LeGrand, who was a pretty dominant force for Nebraska Juniors 151 Black on the day.

Abby Schomers is the real-deal as an 8^th grade setter for Nebraska Elite 14 Havoc and Kylie Weeks has one of the best jump serves I’ve seen in a while, let alone from a middle schooler. Also really liked the quick arm swing, length and athleticism of Jenna Hamilton from Elite Havoc. A 7^th grader playing on Havoc that you will want to file away in your memory is Amanda Loschen. One more 8^th grader to keep in the back of your mind is VCNebraska 15 Elite’s Kali Jurgensmeier.

A pair of Lincoln Southwest freshmen also looked pretty good today playing for VCNebraska 15 Elite – 5’11 OH Elisabeth Tomlin and 6’0 MH Kayla Davis. Premier 15 Black’s Abby Wolfe, a 5’10 freshman, had a really nice afternoon as well.