Top Individual Performances from Omaha Team Camp

<p>OMAHA - One of the most interesting thing about summer team camps is seeing the individual progress players have made in the off season. While watching the top 24 teams at the Omaha camp this past weekend, there were a few surprises and standout performances worth noting.</p> <p>Now, conversely, one of the hardest things about summer team camps is trying to identify all the new kids or recognizing kids without their jersey numbers and/or names on the back of their shirts. Personally, I love the opportunity to talk with coaches when the opportunity presents itself, but I feel it is more important to respect the fact that coaches are working and have work to do, so I'm not always able to track down the names of kids that were impressive.</p> <p>So, there were many more standouts that what I have listed below, so if your name doesn't appear, just no it's nothing personal if I just didn't get a chance to track down your name.</p> <p>Names are in no particular order.</p> <p>As mentioned in the teams article yesterday, Lincoln Pius X had a really good showing and a big part of that is that the Thunderbolts clearly have some players capable of filling the shoes of graduated setter Gracie Gokie. <strong>Carly Rodaway</strong>, a 6'0 lefty senior, has always had a really nice skill set on the right side, but the Omaha team camp was the first time I've seen her set. She surprised me with some really nice hands and good ball placement. Being a tall left-handed player has natural advantages as well as a setter and Rodaway is a legit attacker at the Class A level as well. Junior <strong>Hannah Pham</strong> looked good at the setter position as well for the Thunderbolts and it will be interesting to see how the position will play out for the Thunderbolts.</p> <p><strong>Lauren Emanuel</strong> of North Bend is simply one of my favorite under-the-radar players out there. She doesn't play club volleyball and I'm not sure that playing in college is a priority for her, but she is an athletic 6'1-ish middle that is one of the most underrated blockers in the state. The Tigers played a schedule at the Omaha team camp that featured a lot of Class A programs and she gave hitters fits in the middle all weekend.</p> <p>So, I have Millard South sophomore outside <strong>Maddie MacTaggart</strong> listed as the #28 player in the 2022 Class. She played like she belongs in the top 10 over the weekend. MacTaggart's athleticism and cannon arm has always been impressive, but in 2018 23.2% of her attacks were errors and she just wasn't consistent enough in  her back row play. Fast forward to this past weekend and MacTaggart was the de facto MVP of the tournament. She showed more variety in her attacks and was much more in control and efficient. If her back-row play continues to improve and she carries over her efficiency on offense into the 2019 season, she's destined for big things.</p> <p>There is a lot to be excited about when it comes to Bellevue West, but if there was a Thunderbird that really stood out to me in terms of performing much better than I had maybe anticipated, it would be senior Bellevue University commit <strong>Jacki Apel</strong>. She seems taller than her listed height of 5'10 and she looked more explosive and athletic than I remember. She was second on the team last year in kills with 221, and with the balance the T-Birds will have this year I'm not sure that her total will go way up this year, but I bet her efficiency does because she's got a lot more power in that swing that she did a year ago.</p> <p>Eventually, I'm going to run out of ways to describe just how good Wahoo junior setter <strong>Elle Glock</strong> is. The USC recruit was by far the best setter at the camp and is just so silky smooth and seemingly always in control of the court and the offense. As a team, the Warriors have outstanding ball control, which tremendously helps make everything look easy for Glock. Perhaps the best analogy for her abilities as a setter would be to compare her court presence and accuracy to that of NFL quarterback Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers.</p> <p>Assuming she stays healthy for her senior season, Lincoln Lutheran's <strong>Marriah Buss</strong> will become the first non-Class A player in state history to record more than 2,000 kills for her career. If things were to go extremely well on a personal level for her, she could even challenge Kyla Roehrig's all-time career record in Nebraska of 2,444 - which Buss is currently 696 short of. She showed no signs of being slowed by off-season surgery on her hip and was pounding balls just like she has from the time she stepped on the court as a freshman. </p> <p>I am well aware that there are some extremely gifted volleyball players in this state, so I know what I'm about to say may seem outlandish to some, but I'm going to say it because I have absolute conviction that it is true. There is not a better high school volleyball player in the state of Nebraska right now than Creighton recruit <strong>Norah Sis</strong> of Papillion-LaVista. She clearly has been active in the weight room and she is strong. There's not a block in the state she can't hit over. She makes everything look effortless and her back-row skills are insane. She's an all-state libero in a 6'1 body that can jump out of the gym. If I were starting a new high school program this fall and I could pick any one player across the state to start it with, I'm taking Sis.</p>