Volleyfest – 18s Division Runner Up – Drive Nation 17 Red

We were lucky enough to brave the 2022 Texas Freeze that occurred last week and drive to the Arlington area to watch some amazing teams play in a wonderful tournament called Volleyfest. It was held at the Drive Nation facility on Saturday and Sunday. Pool play on day one led to an amazing Gold Bracket filled with some amazing teams. There were tons of Open level teams in attendance, which made for some jaw dropping rallies that had the crowd on edge for most of the tournament. We will be profiling a few players on the team that had a solid run through the tourney and fell just a few points away from the title. This team is no stranger to the limelight as they were one of the best teams in the entire nation last club season and finished second at USA Volleyball Nationals in the Open division. They have made some significant roster changes to bolster their lineup and also have a legendary coach that came over to coach them in Ping Cao, former National Coach of the Year. Drive Nation 17 Red They started off day one showing just how strong they are by dominating the opening pool. No one came even close to giving them a challenge as no team was able to score more than 16 points on them in a given set. Four of the sets were in single digits from their opponents. Total domination and they had their sights set on the Gold Bracket.   <img class=" wp-image-179647 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/02/DN-Triple-block.jpg" alt="" width="375" height="250" />Day two started off just where they left off on Saturday. They made easy work of TAV 17 Blue and won 25-16, 25-9. In the semi-finals they finally had some better competition against a team that has some great weapons themselves in Excel. Set one was tighter than they wanted but they still managed to win 25-20. However it must have woke them up because they really flexed their muscles in set two and won easily 25-13.   <img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-179648" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/02/Leah-ford-hit-e1644628597544-300x242.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="242" />The championship match was one that any true volleyball enthusiast would have loved to have watched. It was TAV 17 Black versus Drive Nation 17 Red for the title. It was more than a rematch of last year’s USA Volleyball Open Division national title match. Drive Nation 17 Red was playing on another level from what I saw earlier in the tourney. It was fun to watch them switch gears and step it up. But what was even more fun was the swagger that this team plays with. They are great and they know it. Even though they have some new players on their roster compared to last year, they play very well together. It will take some time for them to gel together fully but when they do everyone better watch out. In the end of the title match, they just barely fell short 22-25, 23-25 to TAV. But the match could have gone either way with a different bounce or two. This team is special and we firmly believe they will be in the hunt for a medal come Nationals time this summer.   Although I could literally write this article and say something amazing about each player who participated, I will give my kudos to a few who I thought deserved “game balls” for their play. The following players stood out to me during the tournament.   [player_tooltip player_id="141120" first="Reese" last="Robins"] [2023] 6-5 Middle (HS: Mansfield Timberview/Club: Drive Nation/Verbal: Louisville) <img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-179645" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/02/Reese-at-the-Net-e1644628136239-300x277.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="277" /> Reese is currently listed as the 26th best prospect according to our Prep Dig State Rankings. She plays at Mansfield Timberview High School and club for the new but stellar Drive Nation club out of the North Texas Region. We profiled her earlier this year and here is what we stated, “Miss Robbins is a force to be reckoned with out of the middle. Her size and power are what most people see when they walk by her court, but to the trained eye we see how quick and agile she is for her size. We love the athleticism, as she is a great balance of size, power, and speed. She routinely puts away any overpass near her zone. Towering over most players in her age group so far makes it easy to hit over them. But when you witness her arm swing, you will see amazing form with helps her thunderous attack be even harder. I almost feel sorry for the ball as she hits it because of the power that she possesses. We along with most coaches agree that this young lady will shoot up the rankings as the years pass by just by how well she is able to cut the ball around a block. Her Drive Nation team is making some serious moves in the national rankings and will prove themselves this summer at USA Nationals. Please congratulate Miss Robbins on her achievement of being one of the top players in the state of Texas. Reese’s name has been strapped to a rocket for a while now and she deserves every piece of praise that comes her way the way she competes on a court. She continues to wow every crowd and the Louisville commit is doing that this year for sure. She powered her varsity team to a birth in the playoffs and is ready to dominate in club again. Her play on the court this season earned her Most Valuable Player for district 8-5A.” Everyone lines up to see her play as she is a dominating middle. Her power is unmatched offensively and she is really becoming a shut down blocker at the net. I love how much quicker she is on the court in both closing the block and driving toward her setter for quick attacks. It is scary to think that she has gotten so much better this season. I feel for all of her opponents as she is playing with a lot of swagger this year. We cannot wait to watch the show.   [player_tooltip player_id="141131" first="Cecily" last="Gooch"] [2023] 6-2 Middle/Right Side (HS: Highland Park/Club: Drive Nation/Verbal: Michigan) Ceci is currently ranked as the 35th best prospect in the 2023 class according to our Prep Dig State Rankings. Miss Gooch plays at Highland Park HS. We wrote an article on her earlier this year and we stated the following, “We love her size and power at the net. She throws down the hammer like Thor once that ball is released from her setter. Her long arms form an almost impenetrable wall against opposing hitters and it is frustrating to play against. Blocking like this is such a great tool for any team to have and Ceci is going to become a master at it through the course of her career. What also stands out is her court vision as she routinely is able to go in hard for a quick and see the double block well. When she sees it, she is able to tip the ball to zone 4 to score for her squad, which is extremely intelligent. . We watched as she was able to help her 16s team dominate at USA Nationals in Vegas and win a National Championship in the 16 Open Division. She played extremely well and is poised for a great junior season.” Sine she made the switch from TAV to Drive Nation this season she has been on a mission. We watched as she has taken some serious steps to prove just how good she is. This kid has some serious pop on the ball and if there is no block in front of her, she might disintegrate the ball after it hits her hands. After watching her in person, we fully intend to move her further up the rankings at our next update. Stay tuned for more from Ceci.   [player_tooltip player_id="141633" first="Bailey" last="Miller"] [2022] 6-2 Outside (HS: Boles/Club: Drive Nation/Signed: West Virginia) <img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-179646" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/02/Bailey-Miller-serving.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" /> Miss Miller comes in as the 10th ranked prospect in the 2022 Class according to our Prep Dig State Rankings. We wrote an article on her in June of 2020 and here is what we said, “She has been a starter on her varsity high school program since bursting out on the scene as a freshman two years ago. As a freshman that season she led her team in both blocks and kills. That is very impressive to do as a freshman. Since then she has been on a tear getting better on the court and in the classroom where she is also in the top 10 percent of her class. She is a lengthy outside hitter who is a part of the famed ten-foot club meaning she can approach touch ten feet high. This young lady has done nothing but prove that she is one of the best players in the entire nation, let alone the state of Texas. I just watched her unleash so many bombs on every team they went up against in the tourney. She will play for West Virginia next year and will dominate at the collegiate level also. She is special and will definitely help 17 Red be one of the teams to beat this season. We will have our popcorn ready to watch the fireworks.   This team is just getting started and we cannot wait to see what they look like at the end of the season. We will be watching them very closely as they embark on a fantastic journey together. Stay tuned for some great stories on the rest of the star-studded roster.   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!