H-Town Showdown #2 – 16s – The Middle Blockers
The second weekend of February had a lot of competition at the club level in the Houston area, with a handful of tournaments taking place around the city. One of them was the second stop of the H-Town Showdown. The…
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Continue ReadingThe second weekend of February had a lot of competition at the club level in the Houston area, with a handful of tournaments taking place around the city. One of them was the second stop of the H-Town Showdown.
The event featured 77 club teams across its three divisions and they competed in three different venues in the area. Our destination was the FAST Complex, where 32 of the 44 teams from the 16s division hit the court on Saturday.
We’ll highlight the top prospects we spotted in the tournament over the course of the week and today our topic is the middle blockers:
Zoe Humphrey Zoe Humphrey 6'2" | MB St. Pius X | 2024 State #32 Nation TX – HJV 16 Elite – HS: Klein – 2024
One of the most promising middle blockers in the state of Texas, Zoe Humphrey Zoe Humphrey 6'2" | MB St. Pius X | 2024 State #32 Nation TX showed once again over the weekend that her future is bright. Ranked 13th in our 2022 Prep Dig State Rankings, she was dominant at the net for HJV 16 Elite on both sides of the ball. Humphrey’s physical tools are formidable as besides the fact that she stands at 6’2” and has very long arms, she’s also very athletic and moves extremely well. She had a very high efficiency rate on offense in the H-Town Showdown #2 as not many opponents could keep up with her tremendous reach and massive firepower. Humphrey was one of just seven Texas prospects in her age group selected for the USA Volleyball’s National Team Development Program (NTDP) National Indoor Winter Training Series in December and was among the49 Texans who made it to 2021 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Phenom List.
Grace Ferguson – W Revolution 16 Adidas – HS: Conroe – 2024
Grace Ferguson has an excellent net presence as she’s very involved in the game and is always in a position to turn an overpass or an unprecise dig into an easy point. She has the perfect prototype to thrive in the middle being a six-footer with great athleticism and long arms, but can also play as a right sider or outside hitter. Ferguson reads the game really well and is also very mobile. She’s expected to get more playing time with her high school team Conroe next season after producing 40 kills and 12 blocks with limited playing time in 2021.
April D’Empire – Texas United 16 Navy – HS: Ridge Point – 2024
April D’Empire was a hidden gem in a struggling Texas United 16 Navy team. Her versatility was probably what stood out the most in her game as she performed a variety of different roles well for her team. Used as a middle blocker, the 5’10” D’Empire showed a great backcourt game too and because of that she would be on the court in all six rotations and would be part of the team’s passing system in some of them. She’s got very good technical skills and displayed great proficiency when blocking.