Lone Star Regional Champ: Teams to Watch – HJV 18 Elite

<p>Several of the best 18’s club teams from Texas will head to the Houston area this weekend to compete at the Lone Star Regional Championship, which will take place at the FAST Complex and the Houston Skyline Volleyball facilities.</p> <p>Between Saturday and Sunday, 55 teams of the entire state will compete in the tournament, bringing some high-level volleyball to the area and there are some teams and players that are definitely worth a closer look.</p> <p><strong>Houston Juniors Volleyball 18 Elite</strong></p> <p>This team has had a great start to the season, having won 14 of the 21 matches they played in three tournaments so far in 2021, ranking second in the region and 62 nationally according to the AES ranking. Head coach Kara Pratt has the privilege of counting on a four-time Olympian and Houston native in her staff with assistant coach Tara Cross-Battle.</p> <p>Here are some of their key players:</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="87438" first="Annie" last="Antar"] – Setter – HS: Klein – 2021</strong></p> <p>HJV 18 Elite has one of the best setters in the entire state in [player_tooltip player_id="87438" first="Annie" last="Antar"]. But at the same time, to say she’s a great setter would be an understatement because she does so much more for her teams. At 5’11”, Antar is also a treat on offense and in each of her four years of high school volleyball with Klein she registered triple digits in both kills and assists. She’s extremely explosive and very crafty, a combination that makes of her an extremely unpredictable player in the good sense of it. Her defensive game is also solid and such a well-rounded game has caught the eye of North Florida, which will add her to their roster next season. She’s ranked 22^nd overall on our Prep Dig class of 2021 State Rankings and is the second-best placed setter on the list.</p> <p><iframe src="//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/9650230/5d9307ed02b1c50e54b729aa" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="87430" first="Eliana" last="Posada"] – Right Sider – HS: Tompkins - 2021</strong></p> <p>When it comes to scoring points, keep an eye on [player_tooltip player_id="87430" first="Eliana" last="Posada"]. She has just the perfect prototype for a right sider standing at 6’2” and being a left-handed hitter and she delivers about everything you’d expect from someone with that skill set. Her left arm is super powerful but one thing that really stands out in her game is her ability to score in less-than-ideal situations. It doesn’t matter if the ball was set off the net or too short or too wide, Posada will always have the right approach and find a way to hit it across the net. That skill will translate particularly well when she starts the next step of her career at the University of Pittsburgh. She’s the 41^st-best ranked prospect on our Prep Dig class of 2021 State Rankings.</p> <p><iframe src="//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/9335586/5f7cef6f5eecc70b94fc049c" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="87410" first="Jessica" last="Frannea"] – Setter – HS: Bridgeland – 2021</strong></p> <p>Houston Juniors Volleyball has a little something for oversized setters and [player_tooltip player_id="87410" first="Jessica" last="Frannea"] is another one of them. Unlike Antar, she sticks to setting for the most part despite her 5’11” frame and she does a great job on that. Frannea likes to run a fast offense and she’s very creative and reliable on that. On top of it, her size allows her to reach imperfect passes with ease and turn them in great sets, an extremely valuable skill for someone in her position. Frannea ranks 29^th in our Prep Dig class of 2021 State Rankings and after completing a successful high school career with Bridgeland she’s ready to take her game to the next level at Northeastern.</p> <p><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/355468333" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>