Motor City Madness 18 Open Recap & Standouts: FaR Out 18 Black cruises to title

<p>The <strong>FaR Out 18 Black</strong> volleyball team has been looking for a chance to show its real potential and that opportunity came this weekend in Pontiac.</p> <p>Playing some of the most consistent ball it has all club season, FaR Out cruised through the 18 Open field, winning the gold bracket on Sunday with a sweep of <strong>Impact VBC Smack 18 Open</strong> in the finals to complete a 6-0 weekend where it didn’t drop a single set.</p> <p>Making the victories all the more impressive is that FaR Out wasn’t at 100 percent, playing without some key contributors.</p> <p>“The kids really played well,” FaR Out coach Joe Steenhuysen said. “We have three starters that are out and I am proud of how the kids stepped up and played. We are starting to understand the process that we are trying to do as we lead up to nationals.”</p> <p>Sunday’s bracket play opened with a 25-16, 25-16 win over <strong>Milwaukee Sting 18 Gold</strong>, one of the top teams coming into the field this weekend. That was followed by a 25-12, 25-16 win over a talented <strong>Michigan Elite 18 Mizuno </strong>squad in the semifinals.</p> <p>In the championship, FaR Out led Impact VBC throughout, taking the first set 25-20 before rolling to a 25-19 win in the second set.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Standouts</strong></p> <p><strong>FaR Out 18 Black: </strong>FaR Out had some great play from their outsides, <strong>Lindsay Taylor </strong>(Miami Ohio) and <strong>Andelyn Simkins </strong>(Western Michigan). Both were all over the court and Taylor was finishing strong from the back row often. Libero <strong>Alli Wiese </strong>(Hillsdale College) was also consistent, allowing the team to stay in system. Middles <strong>Molly Mirabelli </strong>(Miami Ohio) and <strong>Natalie Foster</strong> (Wichita State) were also a real force at the net on the attack and the block. <strong>Jordyn Gates </strong>(Arkansas) had plenty of options to feed at setter and she was on her game this weekend, making FaR Out incredibly difficult to slow down.</p> <p><strong>Impact VBC Smack 18 Open: </strong>It didn’t take long to see that <strong>Madison Rene Schermerhorn </strong>is a real talent for Impact. She delivers attacks with a lot of power and plays all over the court. She made opponents pay for trying to dig out her attacks. <strong>Maggie Rose Castleman </strong>was another impressive hitter to compliment Schermerhorn. Libero <strong>Anna Burkhardt </strong>also gave a lot of effort and her play was a big reason why Impact reached the finals.</p> <p><strong>Michigan Elite 18 Mizuno: </strong>Michigan Elite has a load of talented hitters, led by <strong>Madeline Chinn </strong>(Purdue). <strong>Natalie Risi </strong>(Ball State) is her teammate in club and at Notre Dame Prep and the two just feed off each other very well. <strong>Wren Macaulay </strong>(New Hampshire) is one of the hardest-working setters in the Class of 2019.</p> <p><strong>Unified 18-1: </strong>It was a nice weekend for Unified, who also picked up a win over Milwaukee Sting during pool play on Saturday. <strong>Samantha Palazzolo </strong>(Wayne State) worked very hard in the back row all weekend and was up to facing some big hitters. <strong>Kelsie Vanivelt </strong>(Southern Indiana) was consistent with her setting and a great leader on the floor.</p>