Ohio Valley Region Represented Well at U18 GJNC

<p>Columbus was host to USA Volleyball’s U18 Girls Junior National Championships this past weekend. Teams from the Ohio Valley Region earned podium finishes across a few divisions.</p> <p><strong>18 OPEN</strong></p> <p>Elevation 18 Goller claimed a third-place finish, coming up just shy of a gold medal match appearance in losing the third set of their semifinal match 18-16. They were led by a great collection of athletes, several bound for Division I programs at the next level. This includes [player_tooltip player_id="114400" first="Ally" last="Christman"] (Robert Morris), [player_tooltip player_id="114387" first="Jules" last="Fink"] (Robert Morris), [player_tooltip player_id="114408" first="Annie" last="Lockett"] (Eastern Michigan), [player_tooltip player_id="114385" first="Hailey" last="Green"] (University of Denver), and [player_tooltip player_id="114391" first="Megan" last="Wielonski"] (Ball State). This team also features a couple of athletes from the class of 2022, including:</p> <p><strong> Elizabeth Schlemmer</strong> - 5’8 | DS/L | 2022<br /> Schlemmer has really good ball control and defense and provided key contributions for this team and their high potent offense. She has good patience and platform control while capable of playing any position in the back row effectively. Her size at 5’8 allows for good range and she shows good quickness in pursuit of the ball in serve receive and defensively.</p> <p><strong>18 AMERICAN</strong></p> <p>A2 18 Green finished with a 6-3 overall record and a third-place finish in the 18 American division.</p> <p><strong>Ruby Moore</strong> - 6’0 | MB | 2022<br /> Athletic with good quickness off the floor and with her arm, Moore provided a nice presence in the middle for this team. She has good vision at the net and can move the ball around well through quick tempo options. She has good lateral speed as well to be able to get to hitters at both pins when blocking. </p> <p><strong>Ashleigh Zehala</strong> - 5’8 | S | 2022<br /> Zehala is another 2022 athlete on this U18 squad and shared setting duties for an offense that had good production. She has good quickness and shows good hand position upon contact with consistency in her location through both pins. She has good timing with middles and did a good job of balancing her attackers opportunities to keep them involved and apply pressure to opposing defense. </p> <p><strong>18 NATIONAL</strong></p> <p>CVC 18 Black earned a third-place podium finish as well as they completed the competition with 6-2 overall record. This is another team full of athletes heading to Division I programs around the country, including [player_tooltip player_id="114383" first="Margo" last="Huff"] (UNCW), [player_tooltip player_id="114440" first="Maria" last="Futey"] (Buffalo), [player_tooltip player_id="114394" first="Amanda" last="Leigh"] (Buffalo), Makenna Shafer (Ohio), [player_tooltip player_id="114390" first="Brooke" last="Cirigliano"] (Miami), and [player_tooltip player_id="114430" first="Bella" last="Peroni"] (Niagra). </p>