K2 Presidents Day Bash: MVPs of the Tournament
Recently, I went to Knoxville, TN, to watch the 15s division. There was a whole lot of talent and many girls from smaller town clubs that deserve more attention than what they receive. Here are my three MVPs of the tournament, unranked, but all studs for just being freshmen!
Lucy Trapp- NKJV 15 Blue
I think this girl had to be one of my favorites to watch out of the whole tournament. From NKJV 15 Blue, this all around outside hitter was a complete baller. I talked to her family where her mother, Beth Trapp, actually played at Western Kentucky University, so volleyball has been in her blood. She has been a defensive specialist her whole career, but this past year, she started growing, and they switched her to the outside position. She’s smart. She’s fast. She knows when to keep the ball in play, and she knows when it’s time to go for a kill.
Her platform in the back row is money too, and Trapp flies around back there in defense making plays. I saw her squad down 23-24, and she runs from left back to go pick up a setter dump in the deep right corner. After the play, she screams lets go while jumping up and down. Trapp is her team’s hype man, but she’s also not afraid to leave it all out there when the game gets tight. This is why she helped lead her team to a gold championship and was a massive star the whole time. I’m telling you now…. Lucy Trapp is going somewhere!
Madison Edelen- EVA 15 Blue
From EVA 15 Blue, Madison Edelen is one of the best all around players in her age group. Her club is just a small one in Elizabethtown, KY, but again, this girl is going. somewhere. If you saw Edelen’s hands of gold and natural setting ability, you would probably be very impressed and automatically think she’s a setter. However, Edelen hits outside and plays back row for her club and high school team. Edelen played high school volleyball in Kentucky for Nelson County where she started every varsity match and ended the year with a whopping number of 361 kills and averaged 3.88 kills a set!
Edelen has a clear love for the game with sheer athleticism and one of the best shot selections I’ve ever seen. At such a young age in her high school career, it’s hard to have variety in where you are hitting the ball, but she can do it all so effortlessly. She can bang a ball cross court, tool the block, tip down the line, or even high jumbo it to the corner for a kill. I watched her get set every ball in a 12-12 third set thriller, and she got a kill every time she swung. Madison Edelen is a gamer, and I am so excited to see the opportunities volleyball will bring her!
Bianca Sola- Beech South 15 Black
My last MVP to acknowledge is this top notch setter, Bianca Sola, from Beech South 15 Black located in North Carolina. Sola’s team actually beat the winner of it all, NKJV 15 Blue, in pool play on Saturday, and it was during this game, that Bianca caught my eye. Nowadays, if you are a short setter, the coaches decide to run a 6’2. This means you will only set 3 rotations in the back row and be replaced in the front row with a big right side hitter. This is not the case for Bianca. She is definitely below 5’5, but I can see why the coach would never want to take her out of the game. Sola has beautiful, sweet hands and makes every pass look like a good one. She can run her offense efficiently, and you can just tell this kid is a leader.
A setter’s main job is to just simply set the ball, but we forget about all of the other little things they have to do. Defense, call plays, blocking, going over on two, constantly communicating, etc. She excels in every aspect with a smooth touch in defense, natural jumping ability to swing block, and strong aggression at the net. My favorite play was at 24-24 in the second set with her team losing the first one, and she sets a ball from her knees running towards the left to push the ball out to the right to give her hitter an open net. Sola is a fun player to watch. You won’t regret looking out for this one!