U17 & U18 Club Player of the Year and Final Team Rankings Announced!

<div><strong>2018 U18 Club Player of the Year - Kendall Braate - </strong>Our 2018 U18 Club Player of the Year is Kendall Braate from FaR Out Volleyball Club's 18 Black team.  Kendall, a Central Michigan commit, displayed great leadership and an ability to run an aggressive offense as a setter, and score seemingly at will as an attacker.  Kendall help lead her FaR Out 18 Black team to a 3rd place finish in 18 Open at AAU's this year. </div> <div> </div> <div>Others in consideration - Lauryn Gibbs (MI Elite 18 Mizuno), Maria Mallon (Legacy 18 Elite) </div> <div></div> <div> </div> <div><strong><strong>2018 U17 Club Player of the Year - Maddy Chinn - </strong></strong><span style="font-size: 14px">Maddy Chinn is our 2017 U17 Club Player of the Year and is also a potential front runner for the prestigious Miss Volleyball award given out by the high school volleyball coaches in Michigan.  Maddy Chinn led Michigan Elite 17 Mizuno to a 13th place finish in 17 Open.  Maddy constantly puts her teammates on her back and performs at an extremely high level against big time competition.  That is the very reason Maddy is headed to Purdue in the fall of 2019.</span></div> <div><a href="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/34-1-e1532029755326.jpg"></a></div> <div> </div> <div> <div>Others in consideration -  Jessica Robinson (Legacy 17 Elite), Andelyn Simkins (Far Out 17 Gold)</div> </div> <div> </div> <div>U18's Final Club Rankings</div> <div> </div> <div>What a 2018 club season!  With an added excitement of Detroit hosting the USAV Nationals this year, the Class of 2018 is looking to take this strong club season into their college careers.  Our end of year rankings are based on end of season results as we had several teams finish the year strong.  There is also an emphasis put on playing at the highest level (In order - Open, Premier, Club, Classic for AAU &amp; Open, National, USA, American, and Patriot Divisions for USAV).  We feel these are the top 5 teams finishing the season in 2018.</div> <div> </div> <div>18's was an extremely talented class.  Many of our Michigan U18 Club teams brought a ton of success   It will be exciting to see what all these athletes do at the next level with there college programs.  This ranking was extremely difficult to put together but we feel we got it right.</div> <div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div>#1 Far Out 18 Black - Team was led by Prep Dig Michigan U18 Club Player of the Year, Kendall Braate.  This 18's group finished 3rd in AAU in the Open division.  What is scary about this group is they have 4 juniors that will be coming back to hopefully provide another strong FaR Out 18 Black team in 2019.  </div> <div> </div> <div>#2 Legacy 18 Elite - A balanced team that was led by OH Maria Mallon and sophomore setter Celia Cullen.  Despite a disappointing finish at Nationals in Anaheim, this group was constantly a threat to win tournaments.  Libero Hannah Grant and Celia Cullen are expected to return to this group in 2019</div> <div> </div> <div>#3 MI Elite 18 Mizuno - Led by Michigan State bound Libero Lauryn Gibbs, this 18's team was as physical as they come.  This group will all move on to the next level with 7 of them playing at the division 1 level including stellar middles Maddie Whitfield (Central Michigan) and Molly Asmus (University of Dayton).</div> <div> </div> <div>#4 Unified 18-1 - There is definitely a drop off from the above 3 and several other 18's teams in the state.  The number 4 spot goes to Unified who is lead by Western Michigan commit Illeria Kalaj and hammering outside Gabrielle Schilling who will take her arm to Rhode Island.</div> <div> </div> <div>#5 Five1 18 Adidas - Another team that is not quite at the level of the top 3, Five1 had an 18's group that constantly competed at a high level.  Northwood commit Grace Rekeweg and MH Maya Ferland were fun to watch this season.</div> <div> </div> <div>HM - Dead Frog Arnie, USA Michigan,  Volleywood Starz 18 Elite</div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div>U17 Final Club Rankings</div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div>The U17 age group in Michigan did not have as many Open level and Premier level teams do well in the National field.  Team Detroit was able to win a Club National Championship in Orlando and follow it up with a Patriot Division National Title in Detroit.  Certainly an impressive run for Team D.  It certainly leads to the questions, what kind of damage would they have done in Open.  Below is how we think the top 5 in the state stack up in the rankings.</div> <div> </div> <div>#1 MI Elite 17 Mizuno - The highest finishing team at Nationals gets the nod for the end of the year #1 spot.  The team is led by a physical outside in Maddie Chinn, a crafty outside Natalie Risi, and a determined setter in Wren Macauley.  Libero Jordan Valley had an unbelievable Nationals down in Orlando. </div> <div>#2 Legacy 17 Elite - Legacy is probably the most athletic group of 17's in the state.  Led my Michigan commit, Jessica Robinson, they can hang and beat just about anyone in the country.  Alyson Severance provides a calming presence on the outside.  Northwestern commit Desiree Becker improved drastically throughout the season.  </div> <div>#3 Far Out 17 Gold - Andelyn Simkins is the real deal.  The Western Michigan commit is just flat out tough.  The only U17 team in the list that has a win over MI Elite 17 Mizuno.  Far Out finished the year tied for 5th in the 17 Premier division down in Orlando.</div> <div>#4 Team D 17-Red - Team D 17 Red had probably the most success at the end of the year winning two National Championships (Club in AAU &amp; Patriot in USAV).  Led by Toledo commit, Olivia Vance, this group looks to continue its success going into next 2019 club season.</div> <div>#5 Unified 17-1 - It was difficult to put this group at #5 because they play a top 3 schedule.  Outside hitter and Western Kentucky commit, Paige Briggs leads this group along with fellow outside and Cleveland St. commit Marissa Durand.  It will be curious to see what they can do in the off-season to get over the hump and pass up the other four.</div> <div> </div> <div>HM -  MI Elite 17 Elite West,  MVA 17 Black, Redline 17 Elite</div> </div>