What If We Made A Club Team Out Of The Uncommitted 22s?

<p>With the state championship in the rearview and club tryouts beginning in earnest this week, I put my coaching brain in and wondered what a club team of uncommitted juniors would look like. It’s a fun task, and I have the enviable advantage of picking whomever from throughout the state, instead of having a limited number of kids to pick from in a gym. But, I’ve created a few rules for myself:</p> <ul style="list-style-type: circle;"> <li>OH1 is the three-rotation hammer</li> <li>OH2 is the six-rotation passing outside who makes few errors in the attack</li> <li>MB1 is the middle next to the setter</li> <li>MB2 is the middle next to the RS</li> <li>Only one S; we’re running a 5-1</li> <li>The two DS options, other than the libero, are subbed in for OH1 and RS</li> <li>Both the high school and club (2020) are listed</li> </ul> <p>Keep in mind, before you type in all caps at me, that this list is subjective. It’s my personal view of how I used to construct a club team. For the purposes of this exercise, I am only taking 9 on this roster. Normally, club coaches are obligated to take extra players for either revenue or practice reasons. Here we go!</p> <p><strong>OH1: [player_tooltip player_id="85806" first="Katie" last="Egenolf"], 6-1, Center Grove, Circle City</strong></p> <p>The pure definition of "hammer", Katie has already surpassed the ten foot barrier earlier in the calendar year. She was the primary attacker for the Trojan offense, and is slowly improving her serve receive. </p> <p><strong>OH2: [player_tooltip player_id="85817" first="Macarty" last="McQueen"], 5-10, Carmel, Munciana</strong></p> <p>A six-rotation, consistent outside fits in this spot perfectly with Miss McQueen. Her smooth abilities and excellent training have made her the player she is today, and is going to be a reliable shoulder to lean on in 2021 for the Greyhounds, just as she was in the fall of 2020.</p> <p><strong>RS: [player_tooltip player_id="85840" first="Cilicia" last="Aleong"], 5-11, Avon, Circle City</strong></p> <p>Yet another high-flying lefty from Avon, Miss Aleong is from an excellent tradition of left-handed right sides that call themselves Orioles. Her whip of an arm, ability to slow down primary attackers, and slowly improving serve receive and floor defense place her in this position, which is wholly thin for the 2022 class in Indiana.</p> <p><strong>MB1: [player_tooltip player_id="85814" first="Ella" last="Peter"], 6-0, Noblesville, Circle City</strong></p> <p>A quick, springy middle that excels behind the setter is what you’re getting out of Miss Peter. She’s started as MB1 at Noblesville since her freshman year, and probably looks forward to club season every year simply because she finally gets to win; her Miller squad isn’t the greatest, but she doesn’t complain. She still brings it 100%, regardless of the score or the outcome. Her speed and athleticism help her cover every section of the net on the block, and being on 17 Purple (17-1) under Lori Janssen will definitely help her development.</p> <p><strong>MB2: [player_tooltip player_id="103403" first="Abigail" last="Kesler"], 5-11, Muncie Burris, Munciana</strong></p> <p>The main attacker for the Owls, Abigail could be the MB1 on any squad, but I like her in the 2 because of her abilities off of two feet. She can hit any shot, has excellent court vision, and rarely makes errors. Her length also allows her to play bigger than her 5-11 frame, and her club training will make her even better after this spring.</p> <p><strong>S: [player_tooltip player_id="85808" first="Emily" last="Weber"], 5-11, Hamilton Southeastern, Academy</strong></p> <p>Full disclosure---I love this kid. Always positive, always trying to improve, always 100% effort. I know what you’re thinking, "Yeah, yeah, she’s the setter, she’s supposed to do that." Transitioning from a 5-1 offense in club last spring to a 4-2 in high school (yes, you read that right), Emily is willing to do whatever it takes to win, and doesn’t mind the truncated playing time to do it. For the record, not every setter in this class is willing to do the same.</p> <p><strong>L: [player_tooltip player_id="85815" first="Emma" last="McMahon"], 5-5, Bellmont, Munciana</strong></p> <p>What, were you expecting a primary passer from another club? Fat chance. It is common knowledge that Munciana trains passing at the highest level in the state. Emma is just another in a long line of primary passers that can take over a match. She’s already got a 2019 state runner up trophy in her case, and is rapidly improving all aspects of her job. Here’s to hoping that we have a longer club season in 2021 than in 2020 to watch this gem.</p> <p><strong>DS: [player_tooltip player_id="85824" first="Taryn" last="Sallee"], 5-5, Yorktown, Munciana</strong></p> <p>So, there’s a theme to Yorktown. I like to call them Libero High School. Current NCAA Division I liberi from YHS are at Nebraska and Ohio State. Future liberi from YHS will be at Northwestern and Wright State. Another DS that’s a Tiger has already committed to Air Force for the ’22 season. Add Taryn to that list, who had some clutch digs and serving in both the semi state and the state championship in the past two weeks. It’s only a matter of time before someone picks up this gem of a passer.</p> <p><strong>DS: [player_tooltip player_id="115017" first="Emma" last="Lyons"], 5-7, Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger, Empowered</strong></p> <p>Not one, but TWO state champs on this list, with the second being the libero for Dwenger. I’m not quite sure that their epic comeback over Brebeuf could have happened without Miss Lyons taking more serve receive pressure off of her teammates. She chased down a ton of deflected balls and kept her squad alive and seemingly got better as the match went along. Not bad for the first state championship in school history.</p>