Tour of Texas Finals – 17s – The Skilled Setters

One of the most anticipated and competitive tournaments annually held in the Lone Star State, the Tour of Texas brought its Finals for the 15s, 16s and 17s divisions to the city of Houston this past weekend. It was exciting to see some of the most talented volleyball prospects from several different regions of the state competing across four different venues in H-Town under the watchful view of several college coaches. We paid close attention to the 17s, who played at the FAST Complex, and will feature the ones that stood out the most in a series of positional articles during the week. First in line are the setters.   [player_tooltip player_id="99500" first="Madisyn" last="Jones"] – SA Magic 17 Elite – HS: Boerne - 2023 [player_tooltip player_id="99500" first="Madisyn" last="Jones"] was hands down one of the most entertaining setters to watch in the tournament. She is extremely technical and is impressively efficient and consistent when running SA Magic 17 Elite’s fast-paced offense. The 5’9” Jones is extremely creative on her distribution and does an excellent job when out-of-system. She’s also an asset on the backcourt with her strong serve and a very high level of attention on defense. A lefty, Jones is a threat with her setter dumps at the net. She’s tallied more than 2,000 assists in three high school seasons with Boerne. <iframe src="//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/15608629/62157f01b3d35306702b8bac" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>   [player_tooltip player_id="176642" first="Claire" last="Dewine"] – HJV 17 Elite – HS: The Woodlands - 2023 A 6’1” seter with excellent touch on the ball and a high volleyball IQ, [player_tooltip player_id="176642" first="Claire" last="Dewine"] is another player who checks all the boxes on the court. She stands out for her size but is also tremendously technically gifted and seems to never feel the pressure on the court. A new addition to the Houston Juniors club in 2022, Dewine does really well when setting across the net and is also a very good defender and server. At the high school level, she typically takes up hitting duties too and is pretty good at it, having registered 687 assists and 432 kills with The Woodlands last season. She recently committed to Colgate University. <iframe src="//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/14073707/60c6a6ec6e8ba706145a0912" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>   [player_tooltip player_id="122899" first="Ellie" last="Mattox"] – AJV 17 Adidas – HS: Vandergrift – 2023 [player_tooltip player_id="122899" first="Ellie" last="Mattox"] is another prospect who’s among the very best in the state of Texas when it comes to setting. She has good size at 5’11”, a quick and very precise release and does a great job in distributing the ball and keeping all of her hitters involved. One of the things that make of Mattox an ideal setter is her ability to remain accurate and consistent with her location even when out-of-system. She’s also a solid backcourt player, with good serving and defensive skills. She was excellent in the last high school season with Vandergrift, registering as many as 1,428 assists. <iframe src="//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/15134637/6202f422f31dcc1b4cf24836" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>   [player_tooltip player_id="141134" first="Audrey" last="Clark"] – TAV 17 Black – HS: Wakeland - 2023 [player_tooltip player_id="141134" first="Audrey" last="Clark"] was a key piece of an interesting TAV 17 Black team that did a good job in the Tour of Texas Final. The 5’10” Clark is extremely technical on the ball and has a very quick release that opens up a lot of possibilities for the team on offense. Her reading of the game is impeccable as she not only gets to keep all of her hitters involved in her creative system but also understands the moment of each of them, keeping the efficiency level high. She’ll enter her senior high school season with Wakeland in the summer with 2,108 assists to her name. <iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/esJUPKOve3M" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>   Livia Niu – HJV 17 Helix – HS: Temple – 2024 Livia Niu is one of those players that scream potential. The setter position is one of the most complex ones in the sport of volleyball and her game is still coming together, but the signs she showed this past weekend are certainly very promising. Niu’s athleticism is remarkable as she stands at 6’1” and is part of the 10-feet club, making of her an asset at the net, especially on setter dumps. She has a good touch on the ball and does a good job with her distribution too. It was impressive how she got to stand out among the Class of 2023 players and it certainly feels like she’s just scratching the surface of her potential. <iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rXTAMGgfOyE" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>   [player_tooltip player_id="122906" first="Savannah" last="Jennings"] – Texas Legacy 17 Elite – HS: Rosehill Christian - 2023 Another setter with a good combination of size and skill, 5’10” [player_tooltip player_id="122906" first="Savannah" last="Jennings"] caught our eye while playing for her Texas Legacy 17 Elite team. She’s really fluid on her movement on the court tracking passes and runs a simple, yet very efficient distribution with the team. Jennings is a good and technical blocker and can also play very good defense, being an asset in multiple areas of the game. She can score with her crafty setter dumps. <iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jbiv5Pw3pP8" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>