Players to Watch – Triple Crown NIT – Lone Star Region

Photo: Prep Dig

Michael DeLeon February 18, 2022 @ 01:49 PM

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 69 teams in the 15’s -18’s divisions. We will be previewing some of the players that will be showcasing their abilities in Kansas City. They are some of the best players in the 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 grad classes. Let’s meet a few of the talented players who college coaches need to watch that we have not covered yet. Austin Skyline 15 Royal They are in Pool E to open up the tourney and we are excited to see this team in action as we have not seen them yet this season, but many say they deserve to be in the Power Pools based on their performance last year and this year. They are currently 11-1 on the young season and ranked 15th nationally by AES. This team will for sure end up with a chance to break into the Elite Championship Bracket. Some amazing talent like [player_tooltip player_id="179899" first="Addison" last="Gaido"] [player_tooltip player_id="179887" first="Callie" last="Krueger"], Jacy Carrejo, [player_tooltip player_id="179891" first="Riley" last="Certain"], [player_tooltip player_id="179919" first="Lily" last="Davis"], and Amelia Robinson leads them. This team is coached very well and I met a few of them last year when I was invited to watch their practices. They are trained like an 18’s team and the players are extremely tuned in to training for the next level. College coaches will know these names by the end of the tournament for sure.   Alamo 15 Premier Alamo will be playing in Pool G and are looking to prove themselves against the best in the nation. They are currently 10-3 overall and are ranked 96th 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 Megan Fitch, Mya Allen, [player_tooltip player_id="180468" first="Elly" last="Stewart"], and [player_tooltip player_id="180467" first="Aniya" last="Hall"]. They are currently ranked as the 3rd best team in the Lone Star Region due to their showing at the Pre-Qualified Tour of Texas tourney. Stay tuned for more on this team as we will be watching closely.   Absolute Volleyball Academy 17 Adidas They are in Pool J and will look to improve on an already stellar start to the season. So far they are 17-4 on the year and are ranked 30th nationally according to AES. Stars like [player_tooltip player_id="87551" first="Devyn" last="Lewis"], [player_tooltip player_id="87562" first="Ana" last="Garza"], [player_tooltip player_id="176640" first="Skylar" last="George"], and Rylee Lansing have been paving the way for this star-studded team. This team is looking to show that they could have easily been listed into a power pool. College coaches should definitely give this team a look as they have some great depth on their roster who could help out at the next level.   Alamo 16 Premier Sitting at 10-4 on the season with a national ranking of 121 might have you question them, but I assure you that you do not want to count them out or sleep on them because they have some talent that will have college coaches writing notes furiously about their potential. They are in Pool E to start the tourney off on day one. As of today they are the 2nd ranked team in the Lone Star Region and by the end of the tourney I know their national ranking will improve. When you have players like [player_tooltip player_id="124114" first="Grace" last="Carroll"], [player_tooltip player_id="142213" first="Lola" last="Davila"], [player_tooltip player_id="155128" first="Kalina" last="Calvillo"], [player_tooltip player_id="142207" first="Gabriella" last="Reeves"], [player_tooltip player_id="177527" first="Austin" last="Smoak"], [player_tooltip player_id="142210" first="Alysa" last="Walker"], and [player_tooltip player_id="124145" first="Macie" last="Mathis"] who are ranked on our State Rankings, winning is a byproduct of all of their hard work. These kids can flat out ball and they will have the rest of the nation on notice. Stop by their court and see why I am high on their squad.   Houston Skyline 16 Royal Stars like [player_tooltip player_id="99493" first="Brooke" last="Bentke"], [player_tooltip player_id="176657" first="Layla" last="Smith"], [player_tooltip player_id="87573" first="Margot" last="Manning"], [player_tooltip player_id="141244" first="Alex" last="Bull"], and [player_tooltip player_id="87556" first="Ava" last="Harrington"] power this team to greatness. They are in Pool I and will no doubt make it to the Championship brackets. We have been following this team for the past couple of years and they have been one of the best in the age group for a while. Stay tuned for more on them as we cover their journey in the tourney.   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!