Players to Watch – Triple Crown NIT – 16s Power Pools

It is here! The Triple Crown National Invitation Tournament held at the Kansas City Convention Center. There will be hundreds of talented teams from across the country competing in this awesome tournament and over 500 college coaches in attendance. Texas will be well represented with 18 teams in the 16s age group. Seven of these teams will represent this wonderful state in the four Power Pools. We will be previewing a few of the players that will be showcasing their abilities in Kansas City. They are some of the best players in the 2024 and 2025 grad classes. Let’s meet a few of the talented players who college coaches need to watch from the Power Pools. Dallas Skyline 16 Royal They are in Power Pool B to open up the tourney and will be playing against some serious competition. We are excited to see this team in action as we have not seen them yet this season. They are 16-2 overall and are ranked 9th in the nation by AES. Stars like [player_tooltip player_id="155130" first="Carter" last="Fouche"], [player_tooltip player_id="155119" first="McKenna" last="Brand"], [player_tooltip player_id="124113" first="Lauryn" last="“Lolo” Lambert"], [player_tooltip player_id="124101" first="Lauren" last="Perry"], Harper Hall, and [player_tooltip player_id="155120" first="Ashby" last="Daniel"] lead this stacked team. This team is solid all the way around in every aspect and they will look to be one of the last squads standing at the end.   Houston Juniors 16 Elite This team will look to dominate Power Pool D as the only Texas team. They are currently 12-4 overall and are ranked 44th nationally so far in the young season. We are sure that they will raise that ranking with their showing in KC. They are led by some rising stars in [player_tooltip player_id="124151" first="Aspen" last="Maxwell"], [player_tooltip player_id="124159" first="Alice" last="Volpe"], [player_tooltip player_id="124106" first="Lauren" last="Battle"], [player_tooltip player_id="124146" first="Zoe" last="Humphrey"], and [player_tooltip player_id="155125" first="Taryn" last="Gilreath"]. We will be discussing their other stars in some articles we plan on writing from what we see this weekend. We will be watching very closely as they are loaded from top to bottom. The depth on this team is phenomenal.   Flyers 16 APX - Dylan They are in Power Pool C and will have their hands full against some super solid southern Cali teams. But this team has some tough stars of their own who will not back down from anyone. So far they are 18-3 on the year and are ranked 29th nationally according to AES. [player_tooltip player_id="180535" first="Ava" last="Steffe"], [player_tooltip player_id="155124" first="Reagan" last="Bedell"], Reese Renfrow, and [player_tooltip player_id="155123" first="Paloma" last="Gonzalez"] are some stars amongst stars with these North Texas beasts. Don’t sleep on this team as they will flex on anyone. Ava is only a freshman and is a stud. They have some other stars that we are excited to see and get more info on. They are one of the more intriguing teams going in to the tourney.   Austin Juniors 16 Adidas Sitting at 14-2 on the season with a national ranking of 10 will open up many eyes. They are in Power Pool C with Frisco Flyers and will represent the state very well. As of today they are the top ranked team in the Lone Star Region and it is easy to see why with stars like super setter [player_tooltip player_id="124128" first="Savannah" last="Skopal"], [player_tooltip player_id="177532" first="Jadyn" last="Wilgus"], [player_tooltip player_id="124160" first="Reese" last="Emerick"], [player_tooltip player_id="177544" first="Avery" last="Hamlin"], and Camden Besecker. We have some serious scouting to do with some of their other stars that we have not seen yet. We feel that they have some other players that deserve to be on the State Rankings. Stay tuned for more from this special team.   Drive Nation 16 Red I was lucky enough to watch this team already in the Volleyfest tourney two weekends ago and let me tell you this…they are ready to put on a show in KC. They are currently 11-3 and sit at a national ranking of 16. Their roster is littered with division one level recruits. Some of the names to know are [player_tooltip player_id="124103" first="Vivian" last="Parker"], [player_tooltip player_id="177533" first="Ravyn" last="Dash"], [player_tooltip player_id="179965" first="Zoe" last="Gillen-Malveaux"], [player_tooltip player_id="180469" first="Suli" last="Davis"], and Caleigh King. You will be surprised to know that Zoe and Suli are only FRESHMAN, but will light you up. Viv is one of the most talented all around players who plays with such mature composure. Stop by their court and you will see some legit ball.   TAV 16 Black There are many reasons why this team is ranked 2nd in the nation and their record of 14-2 doesn’t do them justice. I was able to watch them at Volleyfest and they are for real. It is very difficult to find weaknesses on this team and they are as deep as they come. Players like [player_tooltip player_id="124104" first="Mikala" last="Young"], [player_tooltip player_id="142201" first="Jadyn" last="Livings"], [player_tooltip player_id="142220" first="Favor" last="Anyanwu"], [player_tooltip player_id="155117" first="Ayden" last="Ames"], [player_tooltip player_id="180174" first="Gillian" last="Pitts"], and [player_tooltip player_id="124135" first="Bethanie" last="Wu"] will be ready to show the entire nation just how good they truly are. This team could play in the 17s division and still be super competitive. There has been a lot of talk on the college scene about this roster and if you stop by their court for five minutes you will see why. Oh did I mention that super athletic libero Gillian is only a freshman. Check them out in Power Pool A.   MADFROG 16s N Green Ranked as the 4th team in the nation will turn some heads for sure. The fact that they are 12-1 on the season so far will surely tell part of the story on paper. But you have to see this team in action to know the rest of the story. They have some extremely talented players in every position. [player_tooltip player_id="142203" first="Carson" last="Eickenloff"], Lillian Crowshaw, [player_tooltip player_id="124144" first="Lainee" last="Pyles"], [player_tooltip player_id="124102" first="Brianna" last="Watson"], [player_tooltip player_id="142204" first="Akunna" last="Cos-Okpalla"], and [player_tooltip player_id="124100" first="Avery" last="Jackson"] headline this star-studded roster. They will be one of the teams to beat in Power Pool A. We will definitely be watching wherever this team goes during the weekend. We hope they have more volleyballs on hand because they are going to pop a few with their power.   I will be in attendance and will try to cover as many players/teams as I can. So far there have been tons of players and parents that have shared their schedules with me on Twitter. There are too many great players to name in this age group, but we will try to cover as many as we can this weekend. Stay tuned to see who plays well and deserves kudos as we will be writing articles on how they perform.   As always stay tuned for more articles on your favorite athletes. If you have anyone you think we should watch out for, please shoot me an email with some info at nov8vb@yahoo.com. Also don’t forget to help these kids get more exposure by sharing our stories with your friends. Help us help them by simply retweeting on Twitter or sharing on Facebook. Thanks for following us, Prep Dig Texas Family! Don’t be afraid to interact with us. We love the likes, shares, and quotes/comments. Keep them coming!